you are the stars in my sky, the light of my life
by purinsesu-sereniti
Summary: Ginny Weasley has gone undercover among the Death Eaters in order to aide the Order. She's partnered with none other than Draco Malfoy, who wrestles with where his loyalties truly lay. M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"We need someone on the inside."

The words fell among those gathered at the table; glances were exchanged, hands nervously folded atop the table, lips tightly pressed. "We need someone on the inside," Remus Lupin repeated, his gaze falling first on the head Weasley, then onto the trail of his sons, his only daughter, and onto the other dozen or so bodies gathered among them. "Someone who can blend in, someone who can get information." _But who?_ The unspoken question fell between the lot and more glances were exchanged.

"I'll do it," one of the elder Weasley boy's spoke up first, his deep set brown eyes gleaming in the candlelight. The gazes all turned to him; on a rare moment, Charlie Weasley was home from Romania. "I'm virtually unknown to the Death Eaters."

"No," Arthur replied, shaking his head. "You need to be here, to look after your mother and sister when Bill or I can't." Charlie opened his mouth with a quick retort. "To take care of the Order business as well, if Lupin isn't around." Arthur cut in before his son could go on. It was enough that most of his children were out fighting this war- he needed at least one of his sons there to protect their home and their family, as well as look out for the duties of the Order.

"I'll do it," Ginny spoke up without warning, interrupting the arguing men. All eyes turned towards her then and she smiled uncomfortably beneath their gazes. Her father looked too stunned to reply and already Bill was shaking his head, a resounding _no_ seeming to be the answer before any real thought was given. Typical, she thought, thinking back to her childhood with a fond sort of annoyance. Being the both the youngest child and the onlygirl in _generations_ was a little more than difficult sometimes. "I'm eighteen, after all," she continued on, locking eyes with every person around that table. To her surprise, some of the other Order members were nodding and to her relief Remus Lupin was one of them.

"It makes sense," he spoke up finally, shooting Arthur a glance that silenced him before he could even speak. "She adapts well, she fits in with any crowd, and she's tough." Remus turned away from the others to face her, her brown eyes blazing as they looked upon him. "She's the best choice and you know it." The others could not deny what Remus said- Ginny was everything they needed in someone to pull this job off: smart, cunning, inventive, and strong. Not only could she hold her own against the toughest of wizards, she could outthink most of them too. No, despite his fears of letting her go, even Arthur knew she was the most logical choice of them all. Her mother wasn't going to like this one bit, though.

[ x x x ]

"Draco, you know your mission."

The blonde male nodded, standing a little straighter, his shoulders squared as he looked his father in the eye. "This is your last chance, do not fail him again. Do not fail _me_ again." Another silent nod and then he was dismissed. Escaping from the room, Draco Malfoy fled down the corridor of his family's manor, his childhood home and long since the central hub of all Death Eater activity. His newest mission (and apparently last one, which did not bode well for him should he fail) was to partner with the newest recruit and together they were to find the "Golden Trio." Draco sighed, rounding a corner, the new recruit had already arrived and there was no time to waste. While he could never admit it out loud, this was the last thing he wanted to do. But, he was weak and he was afraid… There was no going against his father and Voldemort. Not again. He'd lose his life if he tried that again.

Coming to a stop in front of a door, he didn't bother to knock. Instead, he went right on in, to find the room held only one other occupant. She stood with her back to him so all he could see at first was her hair; it was long and jet black, falling in soft, oh so soft looking curls. She was of small stature, no taller than his chest and weighing what looked to be next to nothing. As he closed the door behind him she turned, revealing to him a face like he'd never before seen: she was pale and delicate looking, with eyes the color of the sky that seemed to swallow him whole as they stared at him. Her lips curved into a smile and he felt his heart skip a beat, felt his stomach turn over; she was so unlike any other Death Eater he'd ever laid eyes on. She was young too, his age perhaps even a little younger. It was strange, he thought, for a girl like her to be at their door step, offering her services to the Dark Lord. But, all the same his father had spoke highly of her skills and had claimed she'd be an asset to their side. "Ahem," he cleared his throat, realizing he'd been standing in silence for far too long. "Hi, I'm Draco."

It seemed to be working.

So far, there seemed to be no indication from any of the Death Eaters she'd come across that they had any idea she was not who she said she was. She had prepared for suspicious glances, for interrogations as to her reasoning for so suddenly wanting to join the ranks of Death Eaters. But there was nothing. She had known Draco was to come for her when she'd been placed into this room half an hour earlier- he'd come in and seemed awestruck by her. Well, by her disguise really. A glance into the mirror across the room reminded her of her new appearance, one that she was still attempting to grow accustomed to. "Hi," she replied with a sweet smile, extending out her hand for him to grasp, to shake. At the moment of connection, they both felt it, a flicker of something warm and inviting. Pulling her hand away, Ginny forced another smile and went on to speak. "I'm Audrey. Audrey Harper."

What had he felt just then? That spark, that warmth? Draco could not help but to remain stock still, hardly hearing her as she introduced herself. Luckily for him he'd known her name before coming into the room. He had never felt something like that before. He could see the flicker of something crossing her features and he wondered… Had she… Had she felt it too? "It's nice to finally meet you. My father speaks highly of you." At his words she was humble enough to blush and then shrug, as if it didn't matter all that much. "He said he knew your parents." _Knew._ His father had told him that her parents had died when she was young, a small child of only ten. She had been on her own since then, at least until she'd gone to Hogwarts a year after they had passed. He couldn't ever recall seeing her, though she did seem vaguely familiar to him. Though, he supposed she was a little younger and from Ravenclaw of all Houses, so it wasn't all that surprising that he didn't remember her.

"Yes, I'm told they were well acquainted." She replied, hoping the dark look that she took on fooled him into thinking talking about her dead parents was still yet too difficult. He seemed to grasp it because he nodded and moved on, instead asking if she'd been shown to her rooms. "No, but my things were taken for me." She allowed him to lead her from the room and instead they took to the corridors and then came to a staircase. He paused at the base, waiting for her to catch up, and then they made their way up the staircase only to come to yet another corridor.

"Your rooms are near mine." He said, gesturing to a door they passed on the left, indicating that was his own room. She nodded and they came to a door three down from his. They were the only occupants of this floor, it would seem. Most Death Eaters did not remain at the Manor permanently, though it was not uncommon for some to stay a night or two. "Here you go," he opened the door and lead her inside, the door swinging closed behind her. Just as she'd said, her belongings were settled on the bed, just two small bags that looked old and worn. "Our first mission starts tomorrow morning, you probably want to get some rest."

"Good night." She watched as he left the room, closing the door behind him. The moment he'd gone, she sank down onto the bed, a heavy sigh escaping her. Her hands ran over her hand and then through her hair, the raven colored locks still foreign to her. Lowering her hands, she lifted her gaze to the door, unaware that Draco still remained standing outside in the hall. Kicking off her shoes, she pushed her bags off onto the floor and crawled beneath the covers of her bed. The bed was soft but she knew without a doubt that she'd not even sleep a wink.

Outside the room, Draco leaned against the closed door, his eyes closed and his hands over his face. Those strange, strange emotions he had felt when she was near… The way there had been a spark at the mere touch of her hand to his… He shuddered, unable to explain why he longed to return to the room and talk to her, to find out more about her. But, with a sigh he pushed away from the wall knowing he'd have plenty of time to get to know her. He wondered if anyone had even told her of their mission… Well, she'd find out in the morning he supposed. With a backwards glance to her closed door, Draco strode down the hall to his own room, where he'd lay awake for the whole night long.

[ x x x ]

When she woke the next morning, it was in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. _Oh,_ she thought, blue eyes flickering with the memory of the night before. _That's right, I'm in Malfoy Manor._ Sitting up, she caught sight of her own reflection and for a moment was confused, but then that too returned to her. She hoped she'd adjust to her new face sooner rather than later. Rising from her bed, she shed her t-shirt and changed into a clean set of clothing- slim fit jeans and a loosely fitting tee. Gathering her long, raven locks up, she secured them with a hair band and went to stand at the one single window in her room.

It was dawn and she could see the light beginning to streak across the sky. Always an early riser, this was not her first sunrise, but it was beautiful all the same. One beautiful thing in this dark world she'd become immersed in.

 _Knock, knock._

Turning, she waited a moment before calling out: "Come in." The door opened and Draco was in her doorway, his hair still tousled from sleep though he was fully dressed. He stepped over the threshold (looking highly uncomfortable, she noted) and the door swung closed behind him. "Morning." She greeted, stepping away from the window to begin stuffing her sleep clothes into her bag.

"Good morning," Draco said, unable to help but notice her figure in her clothing; she turned to him then and he caught her piercing gaze, suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu, as if he'd looked into those eyes once before. But then it faded and she smiled, looking quite alert despite how early it was. How was she not a mess like he felt? Draco was anything but a morning person, he preferred late nights. "Are you ready?" He asked then, forcing himself to think about the mission ahead and not how perfectly her jeans seemed to fit. "We should get going."

She merely nodded, taking hold of the one small bag she seemed to have suddenly acquired. He must have looked at her curiously because she laughed and held it up for closer inspection. "It's a trick I learned," she said, thinking for a moment of the bushy-haired female who'd taught her the spell. "Look." She extended the bag out to him and he reached a hand in, stumbling slightly as he realized the bottom was nowhere to be found. "Cool, isn't it?" In truth, he was actually impressed by the spell and wondered where she'd learned such a trick. But, he supposed being in Ravenclaw she was probably smart. "Lead the way," she gestured for him to go on and he led her from the room, down the hall and out into the main corridor.

As they walked, she found the place was empty aside from a few Death Easters- it was early after all. They approached the main doors and she could not help but to ask him: "Your parents aren't going to say goodbye?" a dark look crossed over his features and he silently shook his head, saying nothing at all. A cold, dark feeling took her by the heart and Ginny realized he did not have any sort of relationship with his family. Death Eater or not, she had certainly thought his parents would offer their only son some words of wisdom before this mission of his. Apparently, she was quite wrong.

Without a backward glance, they were gone.

[ x x x ]

They'd been traveling for weeks.

The days had passed, molding together as they went on and on. Soon it was hard to remember a life before the one she currently lived. Every day she and Draco became a little closer, grew to trust one another a little more. She felt bad, lying to him as she was, but she knew better than to allow herself to grow too comfortable. She still kept to herself, carefully avoiding any sort of details that might hint at her true identity. So far it seemed he was entirely fooled, so she had to be thankful for that. Should she be caught, it was easy to imagine what would happen to her. But, despite it all, they were becoming closer than she had ever anticipated them becoming.

"Audrey?"

She turned her head, realizing then that Draco had been speaking to her. "I'm sorry," she said, shooting him an apologetic look, a smile teetering on her lips. He'd become accustomed to her somewhat spacey personality, knowing she was always lost within her own thoughts. He wondered what she thought of.

"I was saying, maybe we should stop for the evening?" Draco slowed to a stop and turned to face her, his gray eyes studying her. "We could keep going but it's going to be dark soon." They had been traveling nonstop for three days now, not stopping for more than a few hours to merely rest and recharge. Their first task had been to find Harry Potter and his friends, but the task changed as soon as they had. They had now been tasked with following the Golden Trio and to put a stop to their meddling. They were to avoid challenging them in any sort of duel unless necessary and were merely following from a distance, watching from a distance, and sending constant feedback to Draco's father. "They've surely stopped as well." He glanced in the direction they had been walking, where sure enough, they could see the flicker of a fire. A moment later it faded from sight, telling them both that the protection spells had been placed around the Trio's camp.

"Let's stop," she agreed, allowing her bag to fall to her feet with a soft _thump_. At once they went to work setting up their own camp, a tent which they shared and a small fire which she would cook a meal for them to share. When they had eaten and darkness had fallen, they retired to the tent which they shared, a cot for each of them, to rest for a night until dawn came and they would be off once again.


	2. Chapter 2

Winter had fallen.

The snow fell for days and then it would cease, but the cold was bitter and biting. The land was a blanket of white and travel became increasingly hard. The Golden Trio had separated, they'd come to realize that only days before. Her brother (though Draco did not know this, of course) had gone from the others, where he'd gone they didn't know. They followed Harry and Hermione to a remote forest, where the two had fallen to a standstill, not moving from the campsite for several days.

She was shivering despite the cloak that was draped over her shoulders. Their fire offered warmth but the wind was cold and the snow was beginning to fall once more. "We should just turn in." Draco suddenly spoke up from his side, looking up to meet her gaze. She nodded and he cast a quick spell that left the fire smoldering. She rose up to follow him into the tent, which she zipped closed and turned around, blinking against the darkness. "Lumos." Draco's wand tip ignited and the light cast eerie shadows all across the walls. She was shrouded in it and he could hardly keep his eyes from her.

Clutching her cloak around her, she took a seat on the edge of her bed, listening to the howling wind outside. "A storm is coming." She murmured, turning to him then, fixing him with her penetrating eyes. Draco sucked in a breath and returned to the tent door, sticking his head out for a moment; sure enough, the winds had picked up and the snow was falling so hard he could hardly see just in front of him. Pulling his head back inside, he turned to her, earning a laugh from her at his disposal.

Reaching up a hand, he ran it through his damp, wind-tousled hair and grinned. He sat back down on his bed and swung his legs up as he lay back against his pillows. "Might as well get some rest, huh?" She had to agree. They'd been traveling for days without resting, moving this way and that way as their duties had expanded somewhat over the last few weeks. And traveling in the cold and snow only made it worse. He glanced her way, only to see that she had already climbed into her bed, the blanket pulled tightly up over her shoulders. "Nox." He whispered and the light from his wand went out, casting them into darkness once more. "Good night." He then called out to her, wondering if perhaps she had already drifted off to sleep…

"Good night," her response was warm and sleepy and he could not help but to smile.

[ x x x ]

" _Draco…"_

Was someone… Was someone calling him…?

" _Draco…"_

This time he opened his eyes and jumped, catching sight of the girl hovering beside his bed a moment later. "Audrey!" He called out, a heavy sigh escaping as he wiped a hand over his brow. "You scared the hell out of me," he breathed a sigh of relief and squinted, trying to make out her soft features in the darkness. "Is everything alright?"

No, not really.

She was highly embarrassed by what she needed to ask- but the hours had gone on and the darker it got, the colder it got. No matter what she did, she couldn't get warm, and it was to a point where she just couldn't stand it any longer. "I…" She trailed off, feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she tried to find the words to say.

Despite the darkness, he could see she was shivering. Now he understood. "It's okay," he said softly, his voice barely breaking through the howling of the wind. He lifted up the blanket and scooted closer to the wall, gesturing for her to climb into his bed. Still blushing, she did as she was bid, sliding into place beside him, dragging her blanket with her. The bed was warm and she could feel the heat of his body so very close to her own. "We'll find better coverage tomorrow." He promised quietly, his voice a mere whisper in the dark, his breath against the nape of her neck. Shivers raced down her spine and she found she could not speak, instead she listened to him settle back, an appropriate distance between their bodies. Pulling the blanket a little tighter around herself, she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to swallow her.

[ x x x ]

The next morning they woke as always, she sliding out from beneath the blankets early as always. She'd dressed in the darkness, shivering into a clean pair of jeans and a sweater before she shrugged her cloak back on. By the time she'd loosened her hair from its braid, Draco was rising as well, pulling his cloak on over the clothes he'd slept in that night. "Morning" she greeted, turning to him as she pulled the hood up over her dark hair. She was pulling gloves on as she offered him a quick smile. "Thank you… For.. Well, you know," she blushed and turned away, thus not noticing the smile that twitched on his lips. "I'll pack up," she went on and he nodded, following her out of the tent. With a flick of her wrist and a quick incantation, the tent folded up into a triangle the size of her palm. She dropped it into her neverending bag and snapped it closed, turning to him then with an expectant gaze.

"They'll have to take better shelter as well," he was saying, turning to the west, to where the now duo's campsite lay. "It's too cold to continue living like this, even for them. They'll take precautions." She nodded, shouldering her other bag, raising a hand to clutch to her hood in a gust of icy wind. "There's a Muggle town north of here, I'm sure that's where they'll have gone." He turned to look at her then and she smiled.

"Lead the way, then."

They walked in silence for a while, the cold enough to knock the very breath from their lungs. It took about two hours for them to stumble onto the recently shoveled cobblestone road, the buildings giving them a little shielding from the fierce wind. Down each side of the road were lamp posts, each one decorated with garland, as were all of the shops along the way. "Quaint." She said with a delighted laugh, her sapphire hues reflecting the lamplight. "There's a pub," she pointed to a building just down the way and as she took a step, she slipped on a patch of ice, nearly tumbling to the ground. His hand caught her elbow just in time, saving her from both a painful and embarrassing tumble. "Thanks," she breathed, looking up to meet his gaze, her heart skipping a beat as it always did when he looked at her like that.

"No problem." His hand lingered for several seconds longer before he pulled back, awkwardly shuffling to the side, keeping his gaze averted. He led her down the road, pointing out a few other icy patches along the way. They blew into the pub a moment later and the warmth was the first thing he felt, but then her hands were on his chest and she had pushed him back out into the snow. "Audrey, what the hell-?"

"They're in there." She gestured to the window, which he went up to, peering inside; sure enough, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger sat at a table, tucked away in the corner of the pub. Harry Potter wore a disguise however, one they had seen in the past. She felt her heart turnover and she wished she could tell him to ensure he changed his disguise more often. And to tell Hermione that she too should be wearing one. Even she was recognizable now. Living on this side of the war let her in on the things they looked for- repeated disguises being one of them. "Here, turn and face me." He cast her a curious look as he did as he was told, watching as she raised her wand to the top of his head. A somewhat familiar spell was on her lips and he felt her tap the top of his head three times. Something warm trickled over him, the sensation similar to dumping a bucket of water over one's head, and he sucked in a breath. "There."

He turned back to the window and caught a glimpse of his reflection; his once silvery-hued locks had darkened to brown and his eyes to hazel. His features were reminiscent of his, yet different all the same. "You're amazing," he breathed, turning back to her, his awe evident. "Is there any spell you don't know?" He recalled learning this spell in school but could hardly remember the incantation let alone the wand movements. He'd preferred Potions to anything else.

"Come on," she gestured for him to follow her inside, and this time they allowed the door to swing closed behind them. She felt the eyes upon her at once and she glanced to the right, where sure enough Harry and Hermione's gazes had swiveled to the newest guests to the pubs. She turned away from them and leaned over to say something to Draco, who laughed as a young girl, a waitress stepped up and told them to sit wherever. Pulling the hood from her cloak down, she strode towards a booth that was near the back, four or five tables away from the duo. "It doesn't feel like Christmas, does it?"

Draco blinked and glanced around, only then noticing the decorations inside of the pub- it seemed the Muggles really enjoyed Christmas time, just as they in the wizarding world did. "No, it doesn't," he replied, carefully avoiding looking at the duo, not wanting to spook the two. The waitress stepped up and he froze, shooting her a look that screamed _help me._ Suppressing a giggle, Ginny turned to the waitress and ordered two cappuccino's, and the waitress sashayed away to grab their drinks. "Do you think…" He flicked his gaze at the duo's table and hers followed, her head swiveling in a very natural manner.

"No," she responded as she turned back to face him, a smile on her lips. "Excuse me," she said suddenly, loudly, to the old man at the table across the way from them. The man looked up, as did the duo, and she went on. "Is there a place to stay here? An inn?" The man flashed them a smile and he nodded, explaining to them the place was only just next door, and they'd be offered a fair rate for a night or two. "Thank you, sir," she smiled and the man was apparently charmed by her sweet voice and soft eyes, because as he rose to leave, he slid a piece of paper across the table to her. "Oh, look," she handed the paper over to him and he read it over, a coupon for a free night's stay at the very inn he'd told them about. "How nice of him."

He couldn't help to have a chuckle at her expense and she at once pinned him with her gaze, tilting her head ever so slightly. "Sorry," he raised his hands up, still laughing. "It's just… You're the nicest Death Eater I've ever met," his tone of voice had lowered so only she could hear, and at once her mouth twitched with a mischievous grin.

A few minutes later, the duo rose up, leaving their table to walk towards the exit. As he went, Harry glanced her way and their eyes met; for a long moment, they stared at one another, and then he was gone out the door, Hermione following close behind him. "That was strange," she murmured as she followed their shadows passing by the window. "He looked right at me." She gave her head a little shake and sighed, draining the last sip of her cappuccino.

"Maybe he recognized you from school?" Draco had also noticed how Harry had stared at her as he had gone by, the look on his disguised face confused, as if he was trying to determine who she was. "Maybe _you_ need a disguise." He teased and she blinked, but then the comment seemed to hit her and she laughed as well. "You'd look good blonde," he said as they rose up, pulling their cloaks back on. She threw down a few Muggle coins and tried to keep the smile from rising to her features, amused by his comment.

Together they took to the streets, a soft snow falling from the darkened skies above; in a moment like this, so quiet and peaceful, it was hard to believe just what she was doing. As she glanced to her right at Draco in his disguise, she could help but to think that this might be how it was if they were different people. If they'd even just been born on the same side. There was nothing inherently evil about Draco, so she still could not quite say why he continued to serve Voldemort. Maybe someday she'd know the truth. "Audrey?" She blinked, realizing he'd been speaking to her and at once she offered an apologetic smile before asking him to repeat himself. "I said, I think it's right there," he gestured towards the building and she nodded, allowing him to steer her towards the inn.

Within fifteen minutes they'd been shown to their room, a double bed with a single bath, and at once she tossed her bags to the ground and sat back on one of the beds. "A real bed," she murmured, rolling over onto her side, cheek pressed to the crisp white pillow. "I almost forgot what it felt like." She sat up, dark hair swinging across her shoulder as she pinned him with that sapphire gaze. "Don't you miss your bed?" To her surprise, a dark look crossed his features and he fiddled with a strap on his bag, silence lapsing.

"I miss my bed at Hogwarts."

His reply came a few moments later, catching her off guard as she rose up with the full intention to take the first hot shower in weeks. He sat down on the edge of his bed, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere but there, talking about his feelings. But he sighed and looked up to meet her gaze, a half-smile twitching his lips. "My bed there was home." Hogwarts had been his sanctuary, away from the grasp of his father and the Death Eaters. His bed back at Malfoy Manor had never felt the same. He felt foolish, with those words coming from his lips and so he'd looked away, unable to meet her gaze. But then he heard her soft footsteps padding across the room and she sat down beside him.

"I understand," she replied softly, keeping her gaze on her knees, her heart hammering hard within her chest. "When my parents died…" She paused, hating herself for lying about something like that, but knowing she had no other choice. Right then, she was Audrey Harper, not Ginny Weasley. "When my parents died, I lost my bed at home… I was sent to live with my grandmother and my bed there, it just wasn't the same. Living there just didn't feel like home to me." She felt him shifting his weight beside him but she continued to stare at her knees instead. "Then I went to Hogwarts that next September and suddenly, I had a real bed and a real home again." She turned to him then and knew from the look upon his face that he was completely convinced by her story. Something cold tightened in her heart but she ignored it and tried to smile. "So, I do get it."

Silence descended and then Draco cleared his throat, finding his voice to ask something he'd wondered for a long time now. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but… What happened to your parents?" Well, there it was. She'd been waiting for that question for a long time. Like with everything else Ginny had come well prepared for any and all questions; she was well versed in everything surrounding the life of Audrey Harper.

"It was a mission," she said after a long pause, sitting up a little straighter, head turned slightly to look at him. "A mission that went bad, they were killed by someone in the Order." She fixed him with her gaze,  
hoping her face looked sad, as if she were reliving the memories all over again. "I was ten." Rising up, she crossed the room back to her own bed to begin rifling through her bag. She pulled from within a picture and she handed it to him. Draco took it carefully and looked down at it, unable to help but to grin at the goofy faces the young couple made as they waved and slung their arms around one another. The woman looked like Audrey and he knew she had to be her mother. "That's all I have left." Draco handed the photo back to her and she brushed the pads of her fingers across its surface, forcing herself to keep from looking at him.

"I'm sorry."

Now that had her looking up; her gaze snapped up and she arched a brow, her surprise clearly evident. Draco chuckled in spite of himself, shaking his head. "I know, weird hearing me say it, huh?" He sighed and kicked off his shoes, the warmth of the room making him sleepy. "But I am. Growing up all alone must have been awful."

Guilt was mounting. She hated lying. "I'm going to take a shower." She said rather abruptly, before snatching her bag from the bed and escaping behind the closed bathroom door. She leaned against it for several long seconds, her heart still pounding within her chest. Finally, she sighed and pushed away from the door, reaching out to turn the faucets and the shower spray on. As steam from the hot water began to rise around her, she stripped from her clothing and stood before the mirror. The face that gazed back at her was still unfamiliar to her, with the dark locks and shockingly blue eyes… She felt lost without her fiery locks and splash of freckles. But, she knew she did what she did for a reason and that was enough to keep her going on. Running her hands the length of her body, she felt the contours of her hips, the jutting of her ribs from her weight loss over the last few months. Climbing into the shower, she felt a surge of homesickness that nearly took her breath away. Sliding down the wall of the shower, she curled up in the corner of the tub, allowing the water to wash over her until she couldn't even tell that she'd begun to cry.

[ x x x ]

When she slipped from the steamy bathroom an hour later, she found that Draco had already drifted off to sleep. He lay stretched out over the whole bed, the blankets still tightly tucked into the bed. His hair was still dark, telling her either he'd forgotten about the appearance change or he didn't know the counter spell. She couldn't help but to smile as she crossed the room, wand in hand, to tap him on the head twice as she uttered the spell. At once his white-blonde locks returned and she knew the eyes behind the closed lids had returned to their stormy shade of gray. Climbing into her own bed, she flipped off the lights and pulled the blankets tightly around herself.

She laid there for what felt like hours but realized sleep was alluding her. With a sigh, she rose back from the bed and changed from her sweatpants into jeans and stuffed her feet into her boots. Pulling her cloak on she quietly exited the room, taking one of the keys to the lock with her. She really wasn't sure where she was going, but her feet seemed to. She walked along the quiet halls, down into the lobby where the old man at the front desk hardly even lifted his gaze as she went by. Outside it was dark and the snow continued to fall, but the cold felt more bearable now that she had a warm room to return to. She pulled the hood up to cover her hair and walked along the snowy road, taking in the sights of the little town. Muggles lived so very differently from them, and yet similarly all the same. Her feet trudged on through the snow, which had begun to pile up during the late hours, and she shivered a little bit, feeling the cold now that she'd been gone so long. But, something told her to keep going, just a little bit further.

As she walked, her path veered off to the left and she found herself on a gravel trail, one that clearly led into the local forest she'd overheard locals in the pub talking about. It was dark without even the light of the moon to light her way and she wished she could have lit her wand, but she couldn't risk such a thing. But, even so, she kept on walking until the path split into a fork and she knew without a doubt to take the one to left. It led her to a clearing and what looked to be a manmade deck of some kind; as she approached, she realized she was not alone. A single figure stood at the edge of the deck, cloaked in black, the hood pulled up. Her heart skipped a beat and her steps slowed until she'd come to a standstill, merely staring at the person's back, wondering if she should have turned around when she'd had the chance. Her hand tightened its grip on her wand inside her cloak pocket and took a single step back, but the person must have sensed her presence because they whipped around and suddenly a wand was pointing directly into her chest.

To his shock, the figure had reacted as quickly as he had; the wand tip was pressed tight to the center of his chest and as the clouds shifted above them, he caught a glimpse of the cobalt hues. And then darkness descended once again and time seemed to stand still. She was the first to react, pulling her hand back, though she still yet clung to her wand. "Lumos." His wand tip ignited, casting a low beam of light, enough to give him a good view of her face, and she of his. He glanced from her clenched fist and then back to her face, unable to help but to wonder if he somehow knew this girl. She was small in stature and at once he thought of _her_ and her flaming red hair. But the wind caught her hood, pushing it back from her face and the light of his wand revealed that her hair was jet black.

"Harry Potter," she greeted, keeping her tone soft, her eyes searching the face she knew so well. How stupid of him, to leave without any of his disguises. His emerald hues widened slightly and then narrowed, his brow furrowed as he tried to decide how he knew her. Or if he even knew her at all. It was as if her name was on the tip of his tongue, as if his mind knew that he knew her, but he simply couldn't place it. "Put it out," she gestured to his lit wand and he stared at her for several long moments before he muttered the spell and they were once again cast into darkness. "You can't even trust the Ministry these days, there's no telling what they'll take you in for. Even that." The Ministry was more or less completely under Voldemort's control and she knew someone would always be watching. He was never safe.

"You… you're that girl from the pub," he spoke and his familiar vocals warmed her. She nodded. "Who… Are you?" She turned away then, silence descending, and then she pushed past him to stand at the edge, now seeing that the deck overlooked a ravine, the river far below nearly frozen over. He knew what he was doing was dangerous- he didn't know her, she could have been a Death Eater for all he knew. But.. There was something oddly familiar about the girl and something told him that he had nothing to fear from her. He crept up to stand beside her, staring out over the ravine, wondering if she was ever going to say something else.

"Don't ever go without a disguise." She said after a few minutes, deciding to ignore his _who are you_ question. Turning to him, she pinned him with her gaze and he faltered, feeling as if he'd been on the receiving end of this look before. "It's too dangerous." She pulled the hood back up over her head and she turned away again. "You should go." He remained standing there until she finally turned back, smiling this time, though her eyes were full of worry. "It's not safe. Go and leave this town in the morning." He stared at her until finally his feet found the ability to move once more; he took a step back and made to turn away, but was left feeling empty and uncertain. "Maybe we'll meet again," she said then, her voice soft, but she was the one to walk away then, leaving him standing there for several minutes. Then he chased after her but found she was already gone.

[ x x x ]

"Harry!"

Hermione's exasperated vocals reached him the moment he was in the door. Light flooded the room and he found himself to be staring into his friend's face, her gaze torn between worry and anger. "What were you thinking? And without a disguise? Harry, that's how you get killed!" She had jumped to her feet then, her hands curled into fists at her sides. "Did anyone see you?"

For a moment, Harry debated on telling Hermione about his strange encounter with the girl from earlier that evening, but he didn't want to worry her more than she already was. "No," he replied as he pulled his cloak off and draped it over the back of a chair. "I'm sorry 'Mione, I just couldn't sleep." He tugged off his shoes and climbed into his bed, the mattress creaking beneath his weight. "Please, don't look at me like that." Hermione had sat back down, but her hazel eyes were on him, eyes that were full of a hundred different emotions. "Everything is fine."

Everything wasn't fine but she knew better than to correct him. A heavy sigh escaped her and she too climbed back into bed, her agitation evident. She turned off the lamp between the beds and it didn't take long before Harry heard her soft, even breathing that told him she'd drifted back to sleep. He lay awake a little while longer, his mind churning with so many different thoughts. Just who had that girl been? Would he see her again? Why did it feel like he knew her? Hermione had said she looked like someone they'd gone to school with, perhaps that was it? It just… It felt like more than that to him, he just couldn't explain it. His mind turned to another girl then, to Ginny, and he wondered what she was doing right then. She was probably asleep in her own bed at the Burrow. Or was she out on a mission? Was she safe? Was she warm? And did she think of him as often as he thought of her?

[ x x x ]

"Taking a late night stroll, eh?"

Ginny cringed as she walked in through the door, softly closing it behind her. The room was brightly lit and Draco sat on his bed, the television on in the background, a Muggle news program flashing on the screen. She shrugged out of her cloak and adverted her eyes, dropping onto her bed to pull her shoes from her feet. "I couldn't sleep," she answered honestly, turning her head to look over her shoulder at him. He stared at her for a long moment before sighing, apparently appeased by this answer.

"You should have woke me at least, I was worried." She smiled an apology and slipped back beneath the covers, effectively ending the conversation. He sighed and turned the light back off, settling back into bed himself. While she'd been gone, he had wondered just where she would have gone, but he knew her well enough to know not to continue pestering her about it.

After a little while, he'd laid there simply listening to the sound of her breathing, a sound he had become familiar with over the course of their time together. He could tell she was not yet asleep and he wondered what she was thinking about. Closing his eyes, he drew the covers up and was prepared to drift back off when he heard her voice.

"I'm sorry."


	3. Chapter 3

She did not like where this was going. Something felt off... As if someone or something was out there watching them.

It was late into the night and the moon hung high in the sky, its soft beams of light cutting through the treetops. The trio had come back together and they had destroyed yet another of Voldemort's horcruxes. Months had passed since she had joined up with Draco Malfoy under the guise of a past Death Eater's daughter, and her life had begun to feel much more normal than it had at the start. Though she still hated to lie about the things she had to lie about, she knew what she was doing was for the greater good, and in the end it was what had to be done. She just wished she hadn't begun to feel the way she did about Draco.

It was odd, knowing the person he truly was inside. Though he had yet to come right out to admit it, Ginny knew he didn't want to be a Death Eater. He didn't want to fight on the side he fought on- he did it out of fear, she supposed, fear of his father and fear of Voldemort. She had learned this was his last chance to live, death being the only thing he could look forward to if they did not capture the Golden Trio alive. They continuously fed information to the Death Eaters, to Draco's father, though Ginny was careful as to what she let on. They had been summoned back to Malfoy Manor on numerous occasions, where they had been interrogated and given more tasks to complete as they went on their journey.

And the most recent time was when Voldemort himself called her to his side to give her a task of his own. She could still rememeber how it felt to stand in his presence; his narrow, crimson eyes so full of malice, the way his lips curled around the vocals of the name she had taken. _Keep watch on Lucius, will you?_ He had asked her that night as he stood with his back to her, his face to fireplace. The room was cast in an eerie shadow and his voice was calm, calmer than she had ever heard it in all of her life. And that was scarier than any of his fits of rage. _I fear he is not as loyal as he seems, nor his son,_ he had turned around then to face her, his wand twirling between his long, pale fingers. _But you... I know you are loyal. Your parents were ever faithful followers that I could trust with any task._ She had nodded, bowed her head and accepted task like a good follower would. He had smiled upon her then and sent her away, back to meet up with Draco where he waited in the den for her to leave.

Since that night, she had constantly racked her brains as to why Voldemort would not trust Lucius as he once had. He had, she knew, been somewhat of a failure to him, but his loyalty had never once wavered that much was certain. Lucius was a man willing to murder the innocent, including his own bloodline, if it meant his own future was secured. A shudder raced down her spine as she thought of a father murdering his son, of a brother murdering a brother- her family would never be capable of such things.

She was so lost in her own thoughts and Draco could not help but to watch her, delighted in this moment he had to simply observe her without interruption. With her raven tresses falling over her shoulders and her lids half shading her indigo orbs, she looked thoughtful yet lost. As if she were racking her brain for an answer that just would not come. He had wondered what Voldemort had wanted with her that night a few weeks ago, but when he had asked her she had seemed like it was nothing and changed the subject. He supposed she would tell him if she wanted to, but he could not help but continue to be curious. He could also not help but notice her in other ways. The way her smile lit her up from the inside, the way her laugh was airy and carefree, or the way she blushed to the very roots of her hair at the smallest of compliments. He wondered if she felt what he felt- the little spark of electricity when their hands brushed, the way it ignited like a fire that warmed him from the inside out. Once or twice he swore he could see that she noticed it too, the way she would jump ever so slightly and pull back, but he never asked and she never brought it up.

They had grown close over those last few months- closer than he had ever anticipated. They were partners and he had not expected much more than that... But since the beginning, they had closer. She had been wary at first it seemed, quiet and speaking really only when he spoke to her. But then, as if something inside of her had changed, she'd begun to break down the barriers. And with every childhood story she had told, he had told one of his own. With every moment she had shared with him, he had one to share too. They talked of school (how he still could not believe that he couldn't remember ever seeing her) and of the classes they'd enjoyed. They talked about their parents and their friends and everything else they could think of. Considering they spent every waking moment together, it was no surprise that they became so close. Draco had never allowed himself to open up to someone the way he had opened up to her- his school friends, Crabbe and Goyle, Pansy, and the others in his House... Those were not people he had ever felt comfortable opening up to. He could not have ever told them the things he told Audrey.

And stories weren't the only thing they shared. He thought back to only a few nights ago, when the temperatures had dropped well below freezing and she had turned up in his bed yet again. The first few times had left her blushing and awakward, as she was the type to never ask for help of any kind (he'd learned that right quick) but soon it became an unspoken thing between them... If she was cold at night, she was always welcome in his bed. They always remained an appropriate distance apart- though he recalled how the last time she'd ended up squished against him, fast asleep with her hair spread across the pillow.

As he glanced towards her, now reaching into the pot that was over their small fire, he felt a warmth inside of him like he'd never felt before. There was such a fondness there in his heart for this girl that he was certain she could never do a thing to make him feel differently. She turned towards him then and their eyes met, a long lingering moment that brought a blush to both of their cheeks as she turned away, pointedly stirring the pot like her life depended upon it. "I think it's done," she said then, her breath coming in a little puff of white air as she sat back on her hunches, wand cast aside and her sleeves tied back to avoid the flames of the fire she cooked over. "Here," she handed him a bowl of the soup she had so miraculously prepared and spooned out a bowl of her own before rising to occupy the other empty chair.

They ate in silence a while, until suddenly she was on high alert, her blue eyes darting back and forth as something caught her attention. She slowly set aside her bowl and he followed suit, keeping his eyes on the surrounding areas, ears attuned to even the smallest of sounds. "Audrey..." He began, soft as wind, but she gave her head a shake and put a single finger to her lips in a gesture of silence. She held fast to her wand and it was only a moment later that the first red light came screaming through their campsite. "Move!" He shouted, leaping forwards and pushing her sideways out of the chair as a stunning spell shot out, aimed right for her. He slammed to the ground, precariously close to their fire, and she was at his side at once, checking him for injuries before the second stunning spell came at them. She blocked with ease and was on her feet at once, shedding her cloak as she stood, her wand clutched tightly in her dominant hand. He gingerly moved his legs as the feeling slowly returned to his limbs and he was rolling over as their attackers stepped onto the scene.

She could not believe what she was seeing.

For what felt like an eternity she stared at him as he stepped into her line of vision, with the others coming up on his sides. His emerald eyes met her blue and she felt her hand tighten its grip on her wand. Without a word, she reached down with her free hand and offered it to Draco, helping him up to his feet. "You," Harry breathed, his eyes moving from hers to Draco's; at that single word, all of the others turned surprised gazes to their companion, all three wanting to know the history behind such a greeting. But, Ginny knew better- she knew where this was heading and it was down a path she could not walk upon.

"Malfoy-" Ron cut in then, his blue eyes narrowed in heavy dislike, his voice dripping with it. He had his wand held aloft and those eyes came to rest upon her. For a single second, she thought he would know her despite the disguise. Her features were those of Audrey Harper's, her mannerisms were all hers, yet... There were some things that could not be hidden between siblings. But then his eyes sharpened and she saw his jaw tighten as it did when he was angry, and she knew that single instant of _do I know her_ had faded away. "You've been following us." He accused, jabbing a finger in their direction. It was not a question, it was a statement; they all recalled seeing her that day over a month ago in the pub. Harry remembered seeing her that night when everyone else had been asleep. There was no denying it, there was no point.

"Exepelliarmus!" The spell left her lips and she felt her heart twist in her chest. This felt wrong, to be attacking the three people she loved most in the world- but this, this was what she was supposed to be doing. She could give off no impression that she was on any side but Voldemort's. Her next spell, halfhearted as it was, hit its mark and Hermione's wand spun away from her hand in an instant. The girl gave a painful cry and Ginny could see the telltale signs the spell left on her fingers. Issuing a silent apology, Ginny blocked the curse thrown at her by Ron and at once it was two against two.

Draco had never witnessed her fight like this- perhaps she didn't realize it, but he could see her heart was not in it. At least not at first, not with those first few spells she'd released. Perhaps then she had realized it and that was why her tactics became aggressive in the blink of an eye. Or maybe... maybe he had just imagined it. With ease she had disarmed Ron Weasley who dropped to the ground when one of Draco's stunning spells hit him.

Inside of her own mind, Ginny was becoming frantic; she was unsure how she could get past this. Draco knew their mission and their mission was to capture these three standing before them. If they won the battle, Draco would want to take them in to Voldemort... But she couldn't allow that. And her own mission was not yet complete. There was still information she needed to find out. Thoughts were racing through her mind and she knew without a doubt what she needed to do. She needed to lose. Harry had turned to her then and with his shoulders squared, he prepped for his next attack. Ginny knew this look on his face for she had seen it numerous times before- they had taken out his friends and he would do anything to protect those friends. Before she could blink, he'd knocked Draco aside with a foreceful curse and that left only the two of them standing, facing each other as if they were sworn enemies on a bloodied battlefield. The look in his emerald eyes was haunting and she forced herself to look away. At the same time that she raised her own wand, he released a curse that she blocked, but felt the power behind all the same. She could not make it look like she'd given in too easy, but she still could not win. Draco had witnessed the sheer power of Harry's spells, so at least this could be believable, so long as she played her cards right.

Two more waves of curses back and forth- one of his grazed her cheek, splitting it open, and one of hers hit him in the shoulder. She wondered if he could tell she had not given it her all. "Harry," Hermione's voice cut into the silence of the battle and he turned to her, if just for a moment, and something unspoken fell between the Golden Trio. Harry then turned back to her and their eyes met once again, his full of something like betrayal, and she felt her stomach turnover. "Harry." Hermione's voice came stronger this time and her hand was on his arm and he sank back, meeting eyes with the two of his companions. Draco was moving and she put out a hand, stopping him from going any further, watching from where they all stood as the trio turned, as if to perhaps make an escape. None of them, especially not Ginny, were expecting what was to come next.

The curse hit her like a ton of bricks, a silent spell issued by Harry when he had barely begun to turn away from them. She sank to the ground as her limbs crumpled beneath her, and as Draco turned to her aide, she knew they would get away. As they Apparated away, Ginny swore Harry's eyes found hers one last time. And then they were gone, leaving she and Draco alone once more. "Are you alright?" He asked her, reaching out to help her into a sitting position; she had grown very pale, her eyes far too bright and wide for her face, and her response was only to turn to the side and vomit until her stomach was empty.

[ x x x ]

Hours later, miles away from the spot, they found shelter in an old cottage. It was musty inside but there was a fireplace and they would have a bed of their own to sleep in. He had spent the better part of an hour ensuring protection spells were up and she had merely sat on the old couch, her hands curled into fists atop her thighs. When he had come back inside, stomping the snow of his boots, she had not even made a sound, had not even looked up from the floor, which he swore she would stare holes into if she kept staring at it like she was. He knew, if she wanted to talk about it, she would, and so he merely went about his way, bringing some light and warmth into the cottage. He could see that she was shivering violently and it was then he realized her cloak had been left behind, abandoned at the old campsite. Without a word he pulled his from his shoulders and draped it over hers before going back to his task at hand.

"Aren't you going to ask me about it?"

Her voice cut into his swirling thoughts and he turned back to face her, small and pale on the couch, the fire roaring to life behind him. "No," he said simply, watching her features carefully as he spoke. "You can tell me if you want, but no, I'm not going to ask you to tell me if you don't want to." Now he understood. Something _had_ transpired between her and the Golden Trio. He was surprised as her eyes filled with tears and threatened to spill down her cheeks, but she reached up a hand, brushing them away before they had a chance to fall.

She could not believe her ears- she could not believe that he was not screaming at her, that he was not angry beyond words with her. She had, more or less, allowed their mission to fail. She had the chance to take down Harry Potter and he knew it- and yet he did not even seem bothered by it at all. If roles were reversed, she probably would have been demanding answers- why was she so emotional, why was she reduced to vomiting after battling what was supposed to be their enemy? Why had he looked at her in such a way? But, as she looked at Draco and he looked at her, she realized something: he trusted her. He trusted her without a shadow of a doubt.

And that only made her feel worse.

Draco sighed and came closer, dropping onto the couch beside her, his stormy gray eyes finding hers. "I want you to tell me, but only if you want to." He said softly, watching as the tears she'd tried so hard to keep from falling begin to streak her cheeks. "Hey! Hey, don't cry, please..." He was never good with such displays of emotions, and truly he didn't know how to comfort someone in such a state. "I didn't mean for you to cry." She gave a sound that was something between a laugh and a sob and she turned, curling into herself, her shoulders curved with the weight of something she was not saying. "Audrey..."

That name, the one that was not her own... Ginny looked back up and met his gaze, her heart breaking inside of her chest. This whole thing... It was so much harder than she had ever anticipated. Lying was easy when you were lying to someone who you didn't care for. She had never thought she would grow fond of Draco Malfoy- but she had never truly known him for who he really was. Lying to him about everything, making him think he could trust her with secrets, with his innermost thoughts... She hated herself for liking him and she hated herself for wanting to betray her own mission by telling him the truth. And then... Having to face Harry and the others in battle... Having to turn her wand against them hurt more than she had thought. Maybe her father and brothers were right and she wasn't capable of doing this. "You should hate me right now." A pause and she turned away, her eyes back on the floorboards, her shoulders quivering beneath his cloak. "I hate me right now."

To her surprise, he gave a chuckle and shook his head. "For what, letting them get away? I don't care." Why didn't he care, though? He knew that if they didn't succeed in this mission, it would more than likely cost him his life. But, for some reason, that really didn't frighten him anymore. A choked sob escaped her and her tears flowed a bit more freely then, making his heart twist inside his chest. Draco wished he could do something for her, but he wasn't really good in situations like these. The only contact he'd had with a girl had been Pansy and she certainly wasn't the type to cry or ever say something like she had just said. He then recalled something his mother had done for him as a child, and without really thinking about what he was doing, he reached out a hand and cupped her cheek into his palm, turning her head so she looked at him again. Her cheek was warm and damp beneath his palm and her eyes were wide in her face as their gazes met. "I could never hate you. There's nothing you could do to make me feel any differently about you." He said, saying the most honest thing he had said in all of his life.

It took her several seconds to register the words that he had spoken to her and once they finally sunk in, a slow smile spread across her lips and her lids fell closed over her eyes. Such words that she would hold onto forever. His hand was warm against her cheek and she found she longed to feel the rest of him against her. Without warning, she dove into his arms, her own winding around him as she pressed her face into his shoulder. Draco remained stunned for only a moment before he wrapped his arms around her too and held on tight. He breathed in her familiar scent, floral and sweet, and found that he never wanted to let her go again. But then she was pulling back and her arms were draped over his shoulders and his were still wound around her waist. "Draco... I..." She found the words were lost to her and she supposed in a moment such as this, no words were really even needed. He smiled and shook his head, feeling the exact same way as she did. No words were needed, not now, not in a moment such as this one.

"You should get some rest," he finally said, to which she nodded, feeling the exhaustion of the day's events all at once. He too was tired and knew he would fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. She rose up from the couch, her hand lingering on his as she slipped his cloak from her shoulders, draping it across the seat she'd just vacated instead. "We can decide what to do in the morning."

"Thank you." She whispered as she gave another little nod, walking across the room towards one of the bedrooms. For a long moment, she stood in the doorway, watching him as he rose up as well, his back to her as he stared into the fire; something kept her from going into that room, something told her they were not done yet. He turned back then, as if he were ready to go to his own room, and he saw her still standing there in the doorway. Without another thought, she knew what she had to do. She crossed the room and came to stand right before him, the distance between them minimal. He tilted his head, blonde hair catching the light, and his smile was coy and his eyes were dancing like they never had before. Closing the gap between them, she stood on tiptoe and put her lips to his, catching him with a quick kiss that took his breath away. When he had pulled back seconds later, blushing and wide-eyed, he swore he'd never seen her more beautiful. She turned to go and he took her by the hand, pulling her back to him in a swift movement. Their lips met again and he crushed her against him, mareveling to himself at how perfectly she fit against him.

A moment later, they both drew back, breathless and smiling. "Good night." She said with a little flip of her hair and Draco watched as she went, feeling cold now that she was gone from his arms. He could not believe at how right something as simple as a kiss could feel. He could still feel her lips against his, could still feel her warmth against him as he climbed into his bed minutes later. Across the hall, Ginny lay awake in her own bed, her mind a whirlwind as she tried to make sense of all that had happened. Despite it all, despite the storm of her mind, she knew only one thing: nothing in all of her life had ever made more sense than kissing Draco.


	4. Chapter 4

Everything had begun to change.

After that night, the relationship between them had grown deeper, had become something new. Neither could really put a name to it- but it was special and perhaps that was all that mattered. In a world as dark as theirs, it made it so much sweeter. Ginny knew though, as the days faded into weeks, she owed him the truth. She had to find a way to tell him who she truly was and hope what he had said to her that night was true. Besides, she hoped that maybe she would be able to convince him that it wasn't too late to do the right thing and switch sides once and for all. They had the conversation more than once- Draco had yet to come right out and say it, but she knew the thought was there inside of him. Draco was not a killer, he was not a Death Eater. He knew it, she knew it, but betraying Voldemort and his father would certainly sign his death warrent. But, so would failure.

And so, one night as spring began to show its early signs of arrival, she knew it was time to tell him. She had rehersed her words all day long as they trekked after the Trio, further behind than ever before, mindful of the last time they'd gotten too close. Ginny had never told Draco why she had reacted the way she had that night, and true to his word, he had never asked her about it. She would tell him now, she vowed, because she could not stand to keep it from him any longer. As they built up their camp for the evening she continued to go over what she was going to say, but something else was eating away at her. She felt strange, as if something bad was going to happen, but she could not really put a finger on it. She could not help but to think back to the last time she'd felt something strange, the night the fight between then Trio and them had occurred.

She was putting the last touches on their tent when the owl appeared; Draco whistled, catching her attention, and she looked up at the sound. The owl touched down in the center of their camp, sticking its leg out, showing off the small piece of parchment attached with string. They exchanged a quick glance and she reached out, untying the letter and the parchment had hardly left its leg before the owl was gone, taking off into the sky above. Odd that a letter would arrive via owl, but he supposed his father would want to attract as little attention as possible to their whereabouts. "Bloody strange," Draco said as he went back to the tent, tugging on its flap to drive the final stake into the ground when he heard it. She had, probably unknowingly, sucked in a little breath, and he looked up to see she had gone very white. Her hands had begun to shake and he was at once by her side, a hand to her elbow, stabalizing her where she stood. "Audrey, is everything okay...?" He could not imagine a letter from his father or any other Death Eaters causing such a reaction in her. "What is it?" She turned her gaze to him then, indigo eyes wide and full of fear in her pale face, her hands still shaking as she clutched to the parchment.

"We have to talk." She said simply, as if this somehow explained everything to him and did not leave him feeling more confused than ever before. He caught sight of the letter and saw it was just a single line and it was written in a hand he did not recognize. Giving a slow, silent nod, he followed her into their tent and sat down on the edge of his bed, watching as she paced back and forth before him. She seemed to be wrestling with something, her lips moving silently to words she probably wanted to say but did not know how.

"Audrey...?" He questioned, drawing her back, and she stopped, turning to face him as if she had forgotten he was even there. A heavy sigh escaped her then and she swallowed, her face pale and she looked sick to her stomach. "Just tell me."

Another deep breath and she pinned him with her gaze, knowing there was no way around this now. She closed her eyes and sank down onto her own bed, clutching tightly to the parchment in her hands. The words on the page flashed before her eyes and she felt the tears pricking behind her closed lids. She opened her eyes and focused on his, those stormy gray eyes she had become so fond of. "Draco, my name isn't Audrey." She said slowly, watching as his expression went from stoic to shock. He opened his mouth as if to speak but the words failed him, as she knew they would. Without another word, she lifted her wand up and tapped her head three times, speaking an incantation he somewhat remebered from school a few years before.

Right before his eyes, she began to change. Her raven locks grew a few more inches and the color became a rich red that shone like a flame. Her penetrating blue eyes darkened to a chocolate brown, but they were no less soul-searching than before. Her skin remained pale as ever but with a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. He stammered over a curse, a shocked curse that left his lips before he could stop it. And yet, as he squinted, looking over her, he could not understand how he had missed it. Though her features had been different, they'd still been similar. Now he understood why she had been so familiar to him that first night so many months ago. It hadn't been because he had seen her in the halls at school, it hadn't been because she was a face he had only seen in passing. This was a girl he dealt with face-to-face, this was a girl he'd fought against (and lost to), a girl he'd argued with. This was a girl he had tried to detest because that was what was expected of him, but in truth he'd thought her to be bold and pretty and smart and strong. "I... I don't understand." It was the only thing he found he could say, the only thing that made sense to say.

A small smile flickered across her lips and she nodded, as if to say _no, of course you don't,_ and she tilted her head to the side, red hair a waterfall of curls over her shoulder. "I'm sorry for lying to you," she said softly and at once, everything did begin to make sense. It made sense why she had reacted the way she had at battling the Golden Trio, as they were her family, her closest friends. It made sense why she had cried and had seemed to be fighting with something deep inside herself that night. It made sense why she had not fought with all of her might against them-now he knew he had been right, she had been holding back. He'd witnessed her prowess in battle more than once and knew she was capable of so much more. "I had a mission of my own and it was to gain information on the Death Eaters, on You-Know-Who." She lifted her face then to look him in the eyes, to take in the sight of him and try and read him for how he really felt. "I understand if you... If you never want to see me again."

The words came softly, though she was smiling her eyes betrayed her; they were so full of anguish that it stirred something inside of him. Without a word he stood up and crossed the tent, pulling her to her feet and into his arms. "When I said there was nothing you could do to make me feel any differently about you, I meant it." He held on tight to her and he felt her stiffen, but only for a moment, before she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest. He knew this felt right, it had felt right before, and it still felt right then. It didn't matter the color of her hair or the name she went by, she was who she was. She pulled back then, tipping her head back as she stood on tiptoe, their lips meeting in a sweet, yet passionate kiss. "The letter, who is it from?" He asked after a moment, when he'd drawn back and noticed the parchment still in her hand.

"It's from Lupin, Remus Lupin." She held the paper out to him, which he took from her hands and silently read to himself. The penmenship, he realized, was familiar now that he looked at it closely- he rememebered it from the year Lupin had taught at Hogwarts. _Come home._ They both looked at each other then and he could see how distressed she was, how her brown eyes were so full of worry. "If they want me to come home..." She trailed off, turning away as she wrapped her arms around herself. He didn't need for her to finish the sentence, he could already hear the unspoken words as if she had said them: _then something bad has happened._

"Then go," he said simply, the words bringing her attention back to him, her eyes widening slightly. "Go home. We just met with my father, you know we won't meet with him again for weeks. He'll never know." He reached out a hand, brushing a stray lock of red hair from her worried features. In all their years in school, why had he never noticed just how lovely her red hair was? On her brothers, it had annoyed him, so perhaps he'd never given it much more thought than that. But... He could not stop himself from twirling a lock around his fingers, mesmerized by the brilliant color. "Your family needs you, so go."

Ginny felt her heart hammering hard inside of her chest as she listened to the words that he spoke. "Come with me," she said breathlessly, taking hold of his hands, her eyes brightening for the first time since the letter had arrived. "Draco, come with me." She watched his face as the surprise took root, firstly in the arch of a brow, of the slight widening of his gray eyes. He opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off by putting a single finger to his lips. "No, listen to me... My family, they'll protect you. They'll help you." She put her other hand over his, so all four of their hands were pressed together, hers so warm and small against his. "I know this life... This life isn't for you."

She was right, oh, she was so very right. For as long as he could remember, he had never truly fit in with the family he was born into. He had never truly believed the same things they had, he had never wanted to be a part of Voldemort's Death Eaters. But, he was a Malfoy so what else was there for him to do? All his life it had been drilled into his head: that he was better than everyone else, that Voldemort was their Lord, that what they did was for the best. But... It had never felt right. It had sickened him to do the things he had already done during his life and the guilt was immeasurable. But how could he leave it behind? His very life was threatened if he didn't follow orders, if he didn't do everything that was asked of him. Truth be told, he was fearful of what would happen if he did ever try to escape the life of a Death Eater. He wasn't so certain he would ever be safe if he tried to runaway from the life he had lived thus far. But no, he couldn't. He couldn't put her into danger and that would happen if he tried to escape this life. "I can't, Ginny... It would put you and your whole family into danger, my father he would..."

"He won't do anything." She interrupted, her eyes bright in her face as she held fast to his hands, offering him a small smile. "Remember what you told me that one night? That you wanted to make a difference but didn't know how?" He did remember that night, from some months ago, a night where he had come as close to telling her the truth as he ever had before. He had always longed to tell someone his true feelings, but there was no one in the world he could trust with a secret such as that. He gave a silent nod and her smile brightened, warming his heart to its very core. "This is how." Such a simple phrase, yet it resonated with him. All his life, he had to be someone that he wasn't. All his life he had to pretend to be vicious and rude and violent, when in truth he was a bit spoiled and maybe even a bit of a bully... But never a murderer, never a tyrant. All he had ever wanted was to be honest and live his life the way he wanted, not how his father wanted.

"Okay," he said slowly, giving his head another nod, a smile of his own appearing. "Take me home, then."

[ x x x ]

As she crossed over the threshold of her home, she knew something was wrong.

Everyone was gathered into the kitchen- her parents and brothers, as well as a few of the Order members. She had sent a coded note back to Remus informing him that Draco would be coming with her and she could only hope that he could convince everyone else that she was making a good judgment call.

It had been so long since she had last seen any of her family (aside from Ron of course, though he had not even known it was her) and she hadn't realized until that moment how much she had truly missed them. As her mother enveloped her into her arms, she could not stop herself from tearing up, and she held fast to her for several long moments before she pulled back to embrace her father too.

Draco shifted on the balls of his feet, watching the reunion of parents and child, wondering if his parents felt even an inkling of what the Weasley's clearly felt for their children. He could not remember the last time his mother had embraced him like that and his father had never. To his surprise, Molly Weasley turned to him then and closed the gap between them, hugging him as she had just hugged her daughter. Draco stiffened a moment, but then relaxed, unable to help himself from feeling warm and comforted. "Thank you," Molly whispered into his ear as she pulled away, turning back to Ginny before he had a chance to question her. Arthur Weasley shook his hand, as did the room of Weasley brothers and Order members.

"Well, what's going on?" Ginny's voice broke into his thoughts and he turned back to look at her where she stood in the center of the room. "Tell us what's happened." She allowed her mother to steer her and Draco both into chairs at the kitchen table, muttering about how skinny they both were, and at once two steaming mugs of tea appeared at their places. Despite how she tried to make things normal, Ginny could see just how worried her mother was, which only made her stomach twist into an even tighter knot.

"We weren't sure what you had heard, considering..." Remus said, gesturing towards Draco, and at once they both understood. Ginny shook her head, silently indicating that they had heard nothing at all, and so Lupin spoke on. "It's come to our attention that Harry, Ron, and Hermione... They've been captured." Ginny gave a little gasp but did not speak, though she did throw him a quick glance, her brown eyes wide and full of fear. "The infomation came to us through a captured Death Eater, we administered truth serum and we learned Harry and the others were captured only two days ago." At once, Draco's mind was racing with a hundred different thoughts- most of them on why his Dark Mark had yet to burn, which would summon all roaming Death Eaters to a specific location. That did not bode well for him, or for Ginny, as Audrey had failed in her mission as equally as he had. Draco knew what happened to failures among the ranks of Death Eaters.

"They'll be at Malfoy Manor, won't they?" Ginny's voice cut in and he realized she was speaking to him and now all eyes had fallen onto him. He nodded, knowing without a doubt that would be where they were held. His family's home had long since been transformed into a hive of activity for the Death Eaters and even Voldemort himself often stayed there. "We'll get them." She turned back to Remus then, her eyes full of determination, her hands curled into fists on the table top. "Draco and I can rescue them." Lupin glanced from her to him and then back to the redheaded girl, offering her a little nod.

"Why else would we have called you home?"

[ x x x ]

Hours later, Draco lay almost asleep in a bed that was not his own, yet felt as if he'd always belonged. Molly Weasley had got right to making him feel at home, as if he really was a part of her family, offering him seconds of dinner and ensuring he was comfortable in one of her son's empty beds. Now he understood why Ginny was the way she was, she had inherited quite a few of her mother's personality traits. Even her brothers had seemed to look past who he had once been and he wondered how Ginny had managed to convince them that he wasn't just going to betray them in the end. She had disappeared into the parlor with her brothers while Draco had been given a second helping of dinner, only to return with a smug sort of smile that made him believe that she had her way with something. They had then come up with their plan, to return to Malfoy Manor when they were called there by the Dark Mark, which could happen at any moment.

He was just about to fall asleep when he heard the door creak open and the light from the hall pierced the darkness. Rolling onto his side, he saw her standing there, the light illuminating her like a goddess in the night; she closed the door behind her and padded across the room to stand at his bedside, a small smile teetering on her lips. "Cold?" He asked to which she gave a little laugh and a nod before climbing into bed beside him, turned onto her side so she could face him. "But your family...?" He had a feeling that if any of her brothers woke up to find her in bed with him they would have his head.

"All asleep. Besides, I put up a silencing charm." She shrugged and he could not help but to laugh and she joined in with him, the sound sweet and comforting to his ears. He reached out a hand, tucking a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. "Sorry if I woke you." She then said, though her tone was anything but apologetic, in fact it was full of mischief.

"No, you're not," he accused, giving her nose a little tap before slipping his arms around her slender frame, drawing her closer to him. He dipped his forehead down, pressing his to hers, and he felt her relax against him. "I wasn't asleep yet, anyways." His lips were hovering over hers and he felt her hands as they wandered over his skin, slipping beneath the tshirt he wore so she could press her palms against his back. Their lips met in the briefest of kisses and Draco chuckled as he pulled back, forehead to forehead once again. "Can't you sleep?"

Ginny grinned, watching his face as his eyes darkened with desire, his voice nothing more than a whisper in the dark. She realized then that this was the first time they were together in such a manner where she was not wearing her disguise. "No, not really." She was worried for her brother and the others, and in all honesty she had grown so used to his presence when she slept, that now that they were in separate rooms it was unbearable. Pulling one of her hands out, she traced the outline of his jaw with her finger, her eyes taking in every inch of his face, comitting to memory every single detail. "You either?" He shook his head, a silent no, and she settled into place in his arms, tucked carefully against him, his warmth comforting.

He felt her hand moving again, straying this time much lower than ever before, and he felt himself stir against her palm as she chuckled. "Ginny..." His voice came out hoarse and it earned him something better than the trailing touch of her fingers over the outside of his boxers. Her hand slipped into the waistband and at once was around him, gripping it with a firm grasp that left him breathless. They had never gone much further than this, but something felt different in the way that she was touching him. One of his own hands trailed the outline of her body, coming to rest on her hip, the other one tangling into her hair as he drew her mouth to his. Her hand was moving, slowly at first, tantalizing him, until her movements became quicker and his breath caught mid-kiss. He could not take it much more and he swiftly changed roles, rolling so he was on top of her instead, his knees on either side of her hips. Taking hold of her hands, he pinned them over her head with one of his hands, leaning down to kiss her fiercely while his other hand slid down the length of her body; she was arching against him, her moans stifled by his kiss as his hand slid up her shirt to grasp her breasts, his thumb rubbing circles against her nipples. He broke the kiss then, his lips leaving a trail of kisses from her mouth down her jaw and onto her neck, all the while listening to her soft whimpers. Sitting back up, he took her tshirt by the hem and inched it up her body, pulling it up over her head, leaving her nearly naked before his eyes. For a moment, he could do nothing but drink in the sight, as he truly had never seen something more beautiful. He leaned back over her, his teeth sinking into her earlobe. "You're beautiful," he murmured into the shell of her ear before he moved on, back to her neck, this time leading them down to her shoulder and across her collar bones. She was shuddering beneath him, murmuring his name as her hands clawed at his back, head turned to the side to expose the milky white of her flesh to him. His teeth nibbled at her skin as he went further down until he got her to her breasts, taking one into his mouth that earned him a noise that made him thankful for her silecing charm.

Nothing had ever felt like this- Ginny was certainly experienced when it came to sex, even Harry had not been her first- but this was so much different than any of her partners before. There was something gentle yet passionate about Draco's every move, moves that told her he was as equally experienced as she was. His lips were still on her breast and she had tangled her hands into his hair, relishing in the sensation it was bringing her, so much so that she gave a little pout when he pulled away. He was chuckling then and his hands were on her hips then, pulling down her underwear and casting them aside. Above her, he was carefully positioning himself, but paused for one moment to look her in the eye, the silent question falling between them. She reached out her hand, taking the length of him into her palm, guiding him to where he needed to go; that was the only answer he needed to proceed. He entered her and she gave a little gasp, hands clutching at the sheets as he began to thrust into her.

Her little cries were mounting and Draco could feel her grinding her pelvis against his; her hands were now on his back, her nails digging into his skin, her head thrown back as she cried out his name. Faster and faster he went until he knew he was coming to the end and a moment later, he burst into her and fell onto the bed beside her, both of them laughing as he drew her back into his arms. "I love you," the words left him before he could stop them and at once, her eyes grew wide in her face and then they softened, a smile that he'd never before seen taking root on her features. He had never meant to say such a thing to her, but it was true and he wasn't goingt to take back the words now.

"I love you, too," she said suddenly, her smile returning, her eyes bright in the darkness of the bedroom. Draco felt his stomach flip and his own smile was so big he thought his face might break. Pulling her close to him, he drew the blanket over their bodies and put a kiss to her temple. Everything had happened so fast, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

[ x x x ]

It was barely dawn when Draco woke to the burning sensation of his Dark Mark as Voldemort called him and all of the others to his side. He rolled onto his side and there she was, a reminder of what had passed the night before. Giving her shoulder a gentle touch, he watched as her eyes fluttered open and a impish smile appeared on her lips. "It's time?" She asked, her voice sleepy and raw, and he nodded.

"It's time."


	5. Chapter 5

Malfoy Manor was a hive of activity.

As she and Draco came into the main room, they could see that the highest ranking Death Eaters had already begun to gather. Fenrir Greyback gave her a disgusting sort of look but did not stop his conversation with a man she knew to be called Dolohov. A shudder raced down her spine but she held her head high and immediately joined into a conversation with the nearest Death Eater, while Draco lurked at her side, keeping his eyes down as he tried to make out the various conversations happening all around them. Something felt wrong, very wrong indeed... He glanced around but still did not see his father and he wondered just where he had to be.

A few more minutes passed and the conversations all fell silent as Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange entered, followed closely by none other than Voldemort himself. The Death Eaters all lined up and bowed as their Lord came to stand before them, his crimson eyes bright against his pale white skin, his smile malicious as he looked around at all of them. Ginny locked eyes with him and she turned her lips up into a smile, her head held high as if she were proud that he looked her in the eyes while all the others he merely glanced over. Beside her, she could see Draco was meeting gazes with his father who then turned up his nose, and Ginny had to stop herself from reaching for his hand. "So, I see you have all heard. You have come when I called you, as I expect." His tenor vocals sent chills racing down her spine and Ginny was careful to keep her face passive. On her other side, Greyback was smirking as if there was a joke being spoken that no one else understood. "You have heard that Harry Potter and his friends are in our custody, it is true, they are in our dungeons this very moment." A quiet ripple of disbelief and triump went up and Voldemort smiled once more, holding up a hand to silence the room. "Now that you are here, you are free to go." He watched their faces, some disappointed, others knowing they had no reason to be here aside from coming when bid. "Except for you, Audrey and Draco." He set his eyes upon her once more and she gave a little toss of her raven locks as some of the men around her twittered with what one might call jealousy.

One by one, all of the Death Eaters left the room until there was no one else but she and Draco in the room with Voldemort and Lucius. "You may go as well, Lucius, Bellatrix." Voldemort said without looking away from the two youngest Death Eaters in ranks- one of them proving herself to be more vital than most of the others. Bellatrix looked as if she'd been slapped, but after a glance from Voldemort, she followed after the others, though it seemed like she'd rather do anything else. If Lucius was surprised or angered by his being booted from the room, his face did not betray it; instead, he held his head up and bowed low to Voldemort before he left the room, shutting the door behind him as he went. "So..." Voldemort took one step closer to them, his eyes sweeping across both of their faces, his long fingers drumming against one another as he inspected both of them. "Your father is eager for me to punish you, Draco, for your failure at capturing Potter and his friends." Voldemort let his hands fall to his either side, the swish of his robes the only noise in the room. "However, I..." He paused, turning his back to them then, the firelight casting him into eerie shadow. "I do not yet see it fit to punish you. You have done well reporting their whereabouts thus far, as was part of your mission." He turned back around then, this time his eyes on Ginny. "And you have played your part well, Audrey." Beside her, Draco cast a quick glance her way, but kept his face blank, not wanting to alert Voldemort to any change in his demeanor, but he could not help but wonder what task he was speaking of. "Lucius is blinded by his own need to suceed that he does not see the potential you still have, Draco." He looked back to him and gave him a little smile that told her things were not all that they seemed.

"Thank you, my Lord," Draco murmured, offering the man before him a low bow, careful to keep his eyes to the floor. Voldemort gave a chuckle and he began to pace back and forth, as if he were lost in thought.

"I know what I would like for you to do, Draco," he then said, stopping once again before them, his crimson eyes dancing in the firelight. "I want for you to torture those two friends of Potter's, the blood traitor and the mudblood." He smiled as if he enjoyed the thought of them being tortured, as if he enjoyed the thought of causing Harry that sort of pain. "And then you will have a new task. I want you to find and capture that girl of his, the Weasley girl. She's been unusually quiet this winter." He had fully expected that girl to cause him an endless slew of problems, but he supposed her family was keeping her hidden away because they knew that he would want her. of course he wanted her, how could he not? "And of course, you will continue to help him. You two work well together, it seems." He glanced from face to face, inspecting them for any sign of discomfort at the idea of torturing the two held down in the dungeons, but in truth it seemed like quite the opposite. "Tomorrow night, I shall like to witness you do it, of course." They both nodded in unison and the girl had a smile dawning on her lips.

"My Lord," she gave him a bow as he looked to her with a nod, indicating she could continue on. "I would like to see them beforehand, if you would allow it." She flashed him a smile and her eyes were bright in the light from the fireplace. "I would like to see them in the dungeon."

Voldemort stared at her for several long moments before he let out a laugh and to her surprise, reached out to put a hand to her shoulder. "You are just like your father it seems, he too enjoyed the sight of a prisoner in chains." He pulled back his hand and waved it, turning away from them again. "Do as you like." A long pause and he snapped his fingers and the door opened. "I will return tomorrow night and we will see Potter's suffering begin." And just like that, they were dismissed from the room.

Without speaking, Draco gestured for her to follow him, and they moved through the halls of the manor until the reached the third landing where his bedroom was located. She pulled out her wand and spoke the soft incantation that put up a silencing charm, giving them the ability to talk more freely than if they had not. Ginny would not take any chances- if they messed this up, it would mean the deaths of three people she loved dearly. She knew that if it were discovered who she was and that Draco was no longer on Voldemort's side, he as well as Hermione and Ron would surely all be killed. She refused to let that happen.

Flipping the light on in his room, Draco took a single moment to inspect it, only to find it was exactly as he'd left it so many months ago. It would seem that even the door was not once opened since he'd left. "What do we do?" He asked quietly, turning to look at her; if he knew her like he thought he did, he knew she would already have a plan forming inside that brain of hers. Her face was white and her eyes were full of worry- he already missed her true appearance. He could not help himself from reaching out a hand, tenderly cupping her cheek into his palm, watching as a smile turned her lips upward. The same hand gravitated to her hair and he fondly tugged on a lock of black, though he wished it were red instead. "How can we pull this off?"

Her smile turned instead into a smirk and the worry disappeared, replaced instead with a michevious sort of determination. "I've got a plan."

[ x x x ]

The dungeons were dark and musty.

Outside the cell, two Death Eaters sat on stools, looking asleep as they leaned against the stone walls, their eyes closed and the stools tipped back onto just two legs. "Oi," Draco gave the closet one a shove, nearly knocking the man aside. "Sleeping on the job? The Dark Lord would not be pleased to learn you're sleeping when you're supposed to be guarding his most precious prisoners."

"We weren't sleeping!" The other man nearly shouted as they lept to their feet, their frantic gazes going from Draco to Ginny. "Honest! It's just been a bloody long day keepin' watch when there ain't no one who's gonna dare break in here to rescue these three." He exchanged a quick glance with his partner who nodded. "Please, don't tell the Dark Lord, I swear we was-"

"Oh, stop." Ginny cut in, rolling her eyes as she gestured for the two men to step aside. "Your guard duty is done, we'll handle it from here." The two men looked surprised and exchanged another quick glance. "Did you not hear me? Get out of here." They snapped to attention then and filed down the hall and took to the stairs. Both she and Draco stood in silence, listening as their footsteps faded until there was no noise at all. "Let's do this." She looked to Draco and he nodded, following behind her as she moved to the dungeon door and threw it open.

Inside, three bodies lay quietly on the floor, all of them wide awake despite the late hour of the night. How could they sleep when they were where they were? All the while, Harry was cursing himself for being so stupid, for being the one to get them into this whole mess. He had known the Snatchers were out there but he had said Voldemort's name anyways and now all three of them were trapped in the dungeon with no way out. They lay in silence until they heard the approaching footsteps, until they heard the exchange of voices. The first one they recognized immediately, there was no mistaking Draco's drawl as he spoke in that haughty tone of voice. The voice that followed after his was one of the men guarding their door. The third voice that spoke was female and somewhat familiar to all of them. "Isn't that...?" Ron spoke in a voice barely above a whisper and they all nodded in the darkness. It was the voice of the girl that they'd fought against over a month ago.

Harry had never told the others about that night so long ago when he had encountered that same girl. He had never told them that he had noticed how she'd not fought with all of her heart during that battle against them. He had not told them that he'd felt something from her that he'd never felt in all of his life except... Except for with Ginny. He thought of her then, with her big brown eyes and her vivacious smile. He wondered where she was and if she was safe. He knew Voldemort would be after her next, Lucius Malfoy had already taunted him about it once. He could only hope that her parents or Lupin had put her into hiding the moment they learned that they had been captured.

The door opened suddenly and light flooded the dungeon; all three of them were sitting up now, with their arms up to shield their eyes from the light. They blinked as their eyes adjusted and then the door was closed and they all heard the female voice as she put up a silencing charm. This could not end well, Harry knew, and he stood up to stand before his two friends, ready to protect them with his own body if it came down to it. "Easy," Draco said quietly, holding up his hands to show he did not hold his wand. "We're unarmed." Ginny held her hands up too, coming to stand beside Draco, her eyes finding Harry's from across the room. Now, this they had not discussed. They had not discussed how they would gain the Trio's trust, but, Draco supposed like with everything, Ginny had a plan of some kind.

"You guys again," Harry said as he locked eyes with the girl, those piercing blue eyes of hers reminding him again of Ginny. She brushed hair away from her face and she took a single step forward, as if she meant to come closer to Hermione who still sat on the ground behind Harry and Ron. They had heard what had happened that night of their arrival, how Bellatrix had gotten to take a turn with the brunette, who had been returned to the dungeon with scars across her forearm. Ron was the one to take a step sideways, preventing her from getting any closer to the girl on the ground. "What do you want?" What a dumb question, Harry cursed himself for asking it, he already knew what they wanted.

"We're here to help you."

Well, that certainly was not the answer he was expecting. Harry snapped his attention back to Draco, who was merely standing there, never once reaching for a pocket to grab his wand. The girl still stood face to face with Ron, who was staring at her as if he were trying to put a name to her face, as if his heart said he knew her but his mind told him he didn't. "Why...?" He heard himself question, turning back to Draco then. "You, help us?" Draco smiled then, a smile that Harry had never seen on his face in all the years they'd known one another. "This is a trap." That was the only explanation, the only reason this whole thing made any sense at all. There was no way Draco Malfoy and his pretty partner would be helping them.

"It's not a trap." The girl spoke this time, her eyes never once leaving Ron's, her lips trembling ever so slightly. "Remember that time, when I was five and you were six, and the twins stole Dad's wand and managed to turn Percy's bed into a dog." Ron's eyes widened slightly and he opened his mouth as if to speak but found he could not find the words to say. "Or when we snuck out to the hillside to look at the stars because they were always brightest in the middle of the night." Ron's lips were silently moving with the syllables of her name, the words so quiet that no one else but her could hear them. She gave a little nod and he was moving, throwing his arms around the sister he had not seen in months and months.

Harry listened to the stories that she told and now, everything was beginning to make sense. Now, he understood why the girl had always seemed so familiar to him. Now, he understood the words she'd spoken to him that night and why she'd not fought with all of her might against them. Hermione was standing up then, her hazel eyes full of tears as she came up to embrace Ginny, both girls hanging onto each other for several long moments. "But, I don't understand..." Hermione whispered as she drew back, holding Ginny at arm's length, inspecting the face that did not belong to her dearest friend. Ginny smiled and put her hands over Hermione's, giving them a gentle squeeze. Her heart ached though as her eyes caught sight of the bloody words etched into her arm. She turned away for a moment then, standing before Harry, who was still staring at her as if he'd seen a ghost. But then his arms came around her and he held on tight, breathing in her still familiar scent.

"We'll explain everything later, but right now we have to get you out of here." Draco said, prompting Ginny, who jumped and stepped back, reaching out her hand to hold tightly to one of Hermione's. "We don't have much time." He reached into his pocket then and from it he withdrew three wands which he extended out to the trio. Getting the wands had been easier than they had anticipated- they had been kept over the mantle in his father's study. For now, they all slept but the wands would be discovered missing come morning, which was only a few short hours away. "There will be Death Eaters patrolling the halls, so follow our lead and keep your wands away unless we say so." Draco knew the manor like the back of his hand and he would lead them out, but he knew it would not be easy, even so late into the evening. And the guard duty would be doubled, if not tripled, considering the prisoners held in its dungeons. When the Trio had safely stowed their wands away, Draco gestured for them to follow, and Ron went first, with Hermione close behind him, and then Harry followed finally by Ginny. He cast his emerald eyes her way and she offered him a smile, but gestured for him to go on, and when he began to walk she followed behind him.

They made it down the hall and to the stairs of the dungeon before they encountered their first run-in with a Death Eater. "Where you taking the prisoners, Malfoy?" The man asked, his accent thick to the point of it being hard to understand him. "They're supposed to stay in the dungeon til tomorrow-"

"There's been new orders." Draco barked back, returning to the Draco that the Trio knew quite well. "Orders from the Dark Lord himself." He tilted his head slightly, those stormy gray eyes narrowing. "I mean, I can return them to the dungeon and get the Dark Lord himself to get his prisoners, though I don't think he will be all too happy to have to come all the way down here."

At once the man jumped and threw his hands up, his eyes wide in his face. "No, of course not, my apologies. Go on then, do as you are bid." He stepped aside in order for them to pass by, his head bowed ever so slightly. They filed past and up the flight of stairs they went, coming into a hallway that to the left would lead them to another flight of stairs that led to yet another dungeon, or to the right which would lead them out into the main hall. This was only the beginning of their escape.

Ginny kept her eyes alert and her hand was clutched tightly in her fist at her side, knowing this was the most dangerous thing she had done to date. She knew that four lives hung in the balance right then- five really, had she counted her own, but that only made her all the more determined to make it out alive. Harry had to make it, he had to so he could go on to fight Voldemort and end this war. She supposed if she died in the process, then it would be for the greater good. They continued on and Ginny felt her heart pounding hard inside of her chest, her anxiety mounting as they made their way through the halls of the manor. They came to a stop at a corner and Draco turned back to glance at her and she gave a little nod right before he rounded the corner, them following after him.

"Going somewhere?"

The voice stopped them dead in their tracks; they all turned slowly on the spot, turning until they all came face to face with Fenrir Greyback. He leaning against the wall, smirking as he stared at them, his wand twirling between his fingers. Pushing off the wall he stepped closer, coming to stand right before Ginny. "I know those prisoners aren't supposed to leave that dungeon til tomorrow night." He looked over her shoulder to Draco and then back to the girl, who sighed and tossed her head, looking bored. The look infuriated him.

"I suppose you aren't privy to all of the Dark Lord's commands, Fenrir," she replied with a shrug, turning her back to him and locking eyes with Draco for only a moment before she felt the sharp tug on her hair, forcing her back around. "Hurts, doesn't it? Knowing you aren't his go-to man anymore, eh?" She said, pulling her hair from his hand, narrowing her eyes as she looked upon him. Greyback's lips twitched and Ginny could see his anger was mounting, her words striking him where it hurt the most. "Now, unless you would like to explain to the Dark Lord why you're keeping us from bringing him his prisoners, we'll be on our way." She turned her back to him again and for a moment, she thought that perhaps he would allow them to move on, but she knew better. A moment later, she felt his hand in her hair once more, this time pulling so hard she could not help but to let out a yelp as he pulled her to the ground. Draco leapt forwards, calling out her name, but Greyback pointed his wand at him, keeping him from coming any closer.

"Now, all the other bloody idiots among us might believe your little story, but I don't." Greyback did not move as Ginny got back to her feet, rubbing the back of her head where he'd yanked on her hair, the spot tender and painful to the touch. "And neither do they." From the shadows stepped two more bodies and at once, Ginny knew they were in trouble. Lucius Malfoy and Antonin Dolohov stepped up to stand beside Greyback and she could see the fury on Malfoy's features as he stared past her to look right at his son. Draco was on the move then, scrambling past the Trio to stand beside her, his wand gripped tightly in his hand.

"Draco, of all your failures... This..." Lucius could hardly speak, could hardly see. He kept his eyes locked onto his son's, who faced him with sharp eyes that told him everything. This betrayal... This was who he truly was. He was not meant to be a Death Eater, he would only continue to disappoint him. But this went beyond disappointment. He was truly trying to help the Golden Trio escape, he was betraying not just the Death Eaters he was supposed to belong to, but Voldemort the lord he was supposed to be loyal to. "This is the ultimate betrayal, Draco." His voice was eeriely quiet and he knew, without a doubt, what he had to do.

"Can I have the girl?" Greyback asked, shooting Lucius a quick glance, hunger in his eyes. There came a swift nod and the werewolf turned back to focus his dark eyes on her, a shiver racing down her spine at the look within them. He squared his shoulders and held his wand aloft before he took the first step into engaging them in battle. Ginny blocked the curse with a quick move and was throwing back one of her own; and just like that, the hallway was ablaze with flinging spells.

"Get back!" Ginny shouted over her shoulder at the Trio, who remained behind them, all of their eyes wide and full of shock at the events unfolding. "Now!" She cried as she returned her gaze to Greyback who was smirking as he came at her. From where he stood, Harry felt his hand twitch as he shoved his hand into his pocket- but then he remembered Draco's words and felt a touch to his arm. He turned slightly and Hermione was there, reminding him that he needed to do things the way that he'd been told, that he had to trust Ginny and Draco. "Stupefy!" She cried out and her stunning spell hit its mark- not Greyback and not Lucius, but instead Dolohov who had stepped into the fray, to join Greyback against her. Instead, he fell to the ground, stunned by her spell and she heard him curse as he hit the floor.

Draco blocked a curse that his father flung at him and sent one back at his own which narrowly missed him and instead hit the wall behind him, knocking a portrait down off and to the ground. "You will suffer for this, Draco," Lucius called out as he stepped around the fallen Dolohov, silently curing the man for being so useless. "And then so will the girl." He still could not understand how a girl from such a family could turn against them, especially when she played her part so well. So well that even Voldemort trusted her with a mission no one else knew anything about. The Dark Lord would crush her if he got a hold of her, that much was certain. He would take down Draco and lock him away until he could do what needed to be done and then he'd hand deliver the girl to Voldemort to deal with. He pushed up the sleeve of his arm, fully prepared to call Voldemort back to the manor, knowing he would come swiftly if called so late into the night. But before he had the chance to touch his wand to his arm, Draco was leaping forwards, hitting him hard with a spell that knocked him back several steps. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Draco." To his surprise, his son merely smiled and took a defensive stance, his gray eyes darkening slightly. He would not go quietly, that he could see.

Spell after spell, curse after curse, the battle continued. Ginny was sweating and bleeding profusely from a wound to her left shoulder. But she fought on. From behind her, she heard the shuffling as the Trio moved further back, avoiding the stray spells that bounced off the walls. She spared them one quick glance but that proved to be a mistake- she heard the curse a moment before it hit her and as she turned she watched his quick hand movements. _"Crucio."_ There was no blocking, there was no avoiding it. The only thing she could do was mentally prepare herself as the jet of light came right for her. It hit her so much harder than she could have ever anticipated- the pain was instantaneous and it was the worst thing she had ever felt in all her life. She hit the ground hard, smashing her face into the floor in the process. She heard, though distantly, Draco calling out to her by the name they knew her by. _Audrey... Audrey!_ But his words could not reach her. She was, against her better judgment, screaming in pain. It was white hot and all consuming and she swore she would not make it through the waves of pain.

That was it, Harry could not stand it another moment. As soon as Ginny was hit by the Cruciatus Curse, he was on his feet, running into the fray with Ron and Hermione on his heels. "Ginny!" He called out to her as he approached and then, just like that, all around him the battle faded to a stop. It was then that he realized his fatal mistake. Greyback and Malfoy exchanged a long glance and then the werewolf was laughing. Harry dropped down to his knees beside her, gently rolling her over as she came through the last of the pain. She was breathing hard and fast, tears streaking her cheeks as he helped her into a sitting position. A moment later, she felt the sensation of the disguise spell coming undone, and when she turned to look at Greyback and Malfoy, it was no longer Audrey Harper who stared back at them.

"I should have known," Malfoy sneered as he looked down at her, with that red hair and freckled cheeks. "I knew something was off from the moment you appeared on our doorstep." He recalled that night, remembering how odd it had been to have the Harper's daughter suddenly there, asking to join their ranks. He had always kept tabs on the girl, as he did with all of the children of dead comrades, but she had never seemed interested in joining them. He should have known from the first time she had something cheeky to say, or the first time she'd pinned him with those eyes... The eyes had changed colors but they never changed their look. Now, he knew he needed to summon the Dark Lord. He pushed up his sleeve and his wand tip was nearly touching his skin when he was hit by the silent curse- he tripped backwards and hit the floor, looking up in surprise, only to find it was Ginny with her wand aloft. He recalled hearing among the rumors that she was quite skilled at silent spells, but now he could see it was not just a rumor.

And just like that, the battle was on again.


	6. Chapter 6

The battle was still yet raging on and Ginny knew they had to make a decisive final move.

She was tired and so were the others. As she glanced to her left, where Draco stood, and then to her right where Harry was, she knew she had to do something in order to save them both, as well as the two others standing behind her. "It's time you give up," Lucius hissed, his eyes darkening as their gaze found hers. They had already been joined by six other Death Eaters leaving them severely outnumbered. "Potter, come with me now and I won't harm any of them." His gaze swept from Harry to Draco, his lip twitching as his anger surged. "Not even my traitorous son." Harry's eyes flickered and Ginny knew the thoughts racing in his mind; giving up in order to protect his friends was so much easier than anything else. But, if Harry was captured... Then it would be all over. Besides, there was no way Lucius would keep to his word, nor would Voldemort allow any of them to live. "If I call the Dark Lord here, it'll all be over for all of you." There was a long pause and then, without warning, without any of them able to move fast enough, the tip of his wand had come down onto the Dark Mark on his forearm.

Beside her, Draco felt his own Dark Mark burn as Voldemort was called by his father. It would only take a few minutes for him to arrive and once he did... Well, it would be all over for them. For all of them. But, then Ginny was on the move, her red hair flying as she twisted around to look upon all of them. For the briefest of moments their eyes locked and she smiled at him before her wand was up and she was screaming: "Reducto!" Above them, several chandeliers burst and began to rain down broken glass and heavy, gilded metal pieces that cracked the ground where they hit. "Run!" She screamed, giving Harry a hard shove past the Death Eaters she'd taken out with her sudden attack. Behind her, Lucius was shouting and Greyback was cursing as he pulled shards of glass from his face and arms. "Relashio!" She cried seconds later when a fallen Death Eater had grabbed Hermione by the ankle, nearly pulling the girl down to the ground in an attempt to keep her from running. "Go, go!" She was yelling, watching as both Ron and Hermione dashed past and disappeared out the main doors, free from the manor, but not yet out of danger. "Harry, go, we're right behind you!" Ginny cried, her words giving him all he needed to follow after his friends. Draco turned to her then as the Death Eaters began to rise back up, circling around the two of them, pushing them back against a wall. "You know where to take them," she said quietly, earning her a quick glance from him, gray eyes full of surprise. A quick wave of her wand and Draco could see she'd administered the Bat-Bogey Hex, one that she was quite accomplished at, and had apparently learned to do silently now. "Go," she urged as he took out another Death Eater, leaving only one left before them, aside from his father and Greyback who merely stood off to the side now, surely believing they were no longer needed in this battle.

He turned back to her then, to meet her gaze, wanting nothing more than to argue with her, to fight with her and drag her out with him. But there minutes had faded to seconds and he knew, Voldemort would be arriving at any given moment. "I'll come back for you," he promised under his breath to which she smiled and nodded, not an ounce of fear in her eyes as she turned her back to him to instead face the final Death Eater. In a moment they were locked in a duel and Draco took off at a run, hearing his father as he shouted after him. The footsteps were loud in his ears as he ran, breath coming in short, shallow gasps, his lungs screaming at him as he ran faster down the hall. He heard the Killing Curse, felt it whizz past his shoulder, but he did not look back. He heard Ginny shouting as she took down the last man standing, heard her laughter and could see her throw back her head as he gave one last backwards glance before his feet hit the dewy grass. "Let's go!" He shouted as he reached the others, ignoring the outraged cries that left each of their lips. "There's no time to argue or do you all want to die?" He snapped, his own emotions getting the best of him as he felt his stomach turning, his heart hammering. He could not stomach the idea of leaving Ginny behind, but he knew... He knew and she knew what this mission entailed. He recalled her words earlier that night, when they'd mapped out their plan down to every last detail. _No matter what, we get them out of there. Even if we have to leave one of us behind._ Those had been her words. Ginny understood what Harry meant to the wizarding world, and if he was gone, then all hope was lost. Her emotions were not there to get in the way. Ron was babbling, incoherent as he tried to push past, swearing he'd never leave his sister behind. Draco grabbed him by the arm and then grabbed Hermione too, eyeing the crying brunette with fierce eyes. Thank Merlin she was smart, because despite it all, she latched onto the others and Draco let her go, raised his wand, and then they were gone.

Though she could not see them, she knew they had gone. All around her feet were the unconscious bodies of the Death Eaters they'd taken out, the debris from the chandeliers still under her feet. Lucius Malfoy returned to his spot beside Greyback, who looked torn between anger and excitement. Lucius however was glowering, his fury quite evident as he looked upon her, his wand held aloft. A moment later, there came the sound like the cracking of a whip, and there appeared Voldemort, his crimson eyes aglow, his skin a shade paler than she was used to seeing. His anger was eerie and calm, the look upon his face sending shivers down her spine as he approached her. There were no words said for several long moments as they merely stood across from one another, he inspecting her as if he'd never seen her before. "Miss Weasley," he finally greeted, his tenor vocals filtering through her racing mind. She wasn't sure where this was going to go- it could end up a lot of different ways, one of those things being her death. But, she supposed he would not kill her, not right away at first. He would use her until he could use her no more. Swallowing down her fears, she forced away any and all thoughts from her mind, and held her head high, brown eyes staring him right back in the face. A malicious smile slipped into place on his snake-like features and he waved Lucius away, gesturing for him to put his wand away. And then he returned his gaze to her, held up his wand, and said the one single word she'd knew he'd say.

"Crucio."

[ x x x ]

They did not return to the Burrow, how could they after all? No, instead they had gone to a secret place that only Draco and Ginny knew of, the cottage they had stayed in so many months ago. It was the seemingly safest place for them to go for the time being. A coded message was sent to the Burrow, to inform them that Harry and the others were safe, but nothing else was said.

Hours later, Draco sat in the darkness of one of the rooms he'd stayed in just the night before, though the bed felt empty without Ginny's company. He reached out a hand, brushing it across the pillow where her head would have lain, still able to recall the way her red hair had looked spread out beneath her when she slept. He had not felt welcome among the others, though Hermione had tried to convince him otherwise, and instead he locked himself away in the room, not able to bring himself to face the family of the girl they had left behind. He knew it had been her choice and he knew she had been the one to insist upon the strategy... But Merlin, did he wish it had been him.

As he began to think about laying down, he heard the footfalls outside his door, and then without ceremony the door swung open and light from the hall spilled in. The three filed into the room, closing the door behind them, while Hermione flipped on the light switch, flooding the room with light. "Draco," Harry greeted in a tone that was not angry, but not that welcoming either. "Remus explained everything to us." He said as he sat down on the bed across the room, Hermione sitting beside him. Ron chose to remain standing, his arms folded over his chest, eyes closed as he merely listened to the words being spoken. "About Ginny's mission, that is." Harry had been surrpised, yet not surprised at all that Ginny had taken on such a dangerous mission. Hermione had told him how she'd put all her focus into her schooling until the very last moment- but how she had longed to make a difference. How she had wanted to stand up and fight. This sort of thing... This is what he had wanted to avoid. This was why he had to let her go so long ago... How many years had already passed since the death of Dumbledore? Nearly four. Time flew and yet he felt he was no closer to the end of the war then he had been that same day. And now, knowing Ginny was in his clutches...? He should have known the moment she arrived to rescue him that she was going to do something like she'd done.

"I didn't want her to stay behind like that," Draco said quietly, interrupting his thoughts, bringing him right back to the world around him. For the first time in all of the years Harry had known him, Draco truly looked distressed over someone else's wellbeing. His eyes were stormy and dark, his hair messy like he'd run his hands through it hundreds of times; he looked like shit. And Harry realized only a moment later it was because he blamed himself for Ginny being left behind. That he thought they too would blame him for her being left in Voldemort's clutches. He bowed his head, unable to even look at him then, and Harry felt a surge of pity for the other male.

"So, let's go get her back." Draco looked back up then and Harry was rising up, coming to stand right before him then, a hand extended. "You guys saved us, so let's go save her." There would be time to talk about everything else later. A slow smile spread across his lips and Draco stood too, clasping Harry's with his own, eyes finding his. Harry grinned back and gave his hand a tight squeeze while Ron and Hermione flanked his either side. Draco gave a nod and knew, without a doubt that they would save her. "And I have an idea."

[ x x x ]

She woke on the floor of a dungeon.

The room was dark and damp, the air musty and chilly; a shiver raced through her as she shifted, her whole body screaming in agony as she moved. Putting her palms down against the cement floor, she pushed herself up, unable to stop the squeak of pain from leaving her lips as she forced herself into a sitting position. The night before was an absolute blur, though pieces of it were coming to her as she fought to recall them. Pain, that was the most vivid memory, so much pain. She raised a hand to her face, fingertips gingerly trailing the length of her jaw, feeling the rise of a bruise and the crumbling dried blood of a scrape on her cheek. Her head was spinning, her stomach heaving, her mouth already sour tasting from the vomit she'd already spewed. A heavy sigh escaped her instead and she leaned back against the wall behind her, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Of all things, she was happy knowing that Harry and the others were safe. Her mind was on Draco, of the last look he had given her, and she could not help but to smile. She hoped they were not all worrying themselves sick over her. Her mother though, her mother was who she worried for... Her mother was probably beyond sick over her not returning home with the others. Ginny offered a silent prayer to her mother, begging her not to worry too much. Things would work out in the end, at least, she hoped that they would.

She had begun to drift off to sleep again when she heard the footsteps. Her eyes remained closed as the door swung open and the heavy footsteps reverberated in the small cell. "Get up," a gruff voice commanded, but she did not move, rather she remained on the floor with her eyes closed, head down turned. "Now." The same voice called out and she felt a hand enclose around her upper arm, yanking her up onto her feet. The Death Eater was some lowly based one, one who's name she did not even remember. "The Dark Lord is asking for you." He dragged her from the dungeon then, allowing the door to close behind them. He had to keep her upright as they went, for her knees were wobbling too much to let her walk normally, and he continually grumbled under his breath as they went.

They stopped in front of the room she'd been taken to the night before and she was pushed inside, the man following in after her. "My Lord," he greeted to the man at the fireplace, who's back was to them and who's face was cast into shadow. "Your prisoner," he gave her a shove and she stumbled a few steps before falling to the floor. He then bowed low to Voldemort who shifted, but did not yet turn around. A moment later, the man backed out of the room, leaving the two of them alone. Ginny felt fear leaping into her throat and she swallowed it down, doing her best to keep her face impassive for when he finally did turn around to face her. She could not help but to wonder if this was it for her.

For several long moments, Voldemort did nothing but continue to stare at the fire burning before him. It reminded him of the girl behind him, bright and powerful, dangerous if in the wrong hands. She had caused him trouble before and would continue to do so until he took care of her, yet something... Something told him to wait. And so, that was why she continued to live. Harry Potter would be missing his woman as well, but things went so much further than that now. Finally, he turned around to face her, and the sight of her battered face delighted him beyond belief. He and his most loyal followers had really torn her up and yet, she had never once cried out during all of their torture. That had been a first for him. "Miss Weasley," he greeted, tilting his head as he continued to inspect her. "I trust you have had time to think about what was asked of you."

Ah, yes, she certainly had.

A strained sort of laugh escaped her and she rolled her eyes- so in her nature a gesture like that was she could not help but to do it. She saw his lip twitch and she knew her cheeky nature would once again get her into trouble. "I don't know where he would have taken them." She repeated the words she'd said to him last night and in an instant, she knew Voldemort was past hearing her lies. His scowl turned to rage and he flew at her, his wand out, his spell forcing her up onto her feet as if she were being strung up by a puppet's strand. He jabbed his wand into the exposed flesh of her throat, his face inches from hers, his crimson eyes glowing with malice.

"I grow tired of your lies, girl." He spat, watching her squirm beneath his gaze, beneath his grip, but never once showing fear only continued to enrage him. He could feel his anger beating like a pulse at his temples and he reached out with his free hand to take her by the hair, the spell loosening its hold on her so instead he was the one holding her up. "Tell me where they have gone and I will spare you a fate worse than death." He growled, pushing the tip of his wand a little harder into her skin. "I will give you over to my Death Eaters, I will give you to Greyback." Threats like these had grown men begging at his feet for mercy, but he should have known she'd not give in so easily. The torture he'd put her through the night before was enough to leave those same men begging for death, but she had remained silent through it all. He should have expected what came next.

Ginny couldn't really say why she did what did she, but before she could stop herself, she spit in his face. A moment after it had happened she knew it had been a grave mistake, but she did not regret it, not in the slightest. Voldemort released her with a scream of fury like she had never heard in all her life and she dropped to the floor, scrambling backwards as he wiped the spit from his cheek with his sleeve. When his eyes fell upon her once more, he was breathing hard, his gaze wild and frenzied. "You'll have to kill me before I tell you anything." She whispered, her brown eyes fierce and determined as they stared back, gaze unwavering.

For a long moment, Voldemort remained frozen in his place, staring back at the girl who's stare was fierce and penetrating. No, he would not deal with this brat anymore. Holding out a hand, he snapped his fingers and the door entered and in came Greyback, who's eyes held a sinister tone as they fell upon her there on the floor. "Do with her as you wish." Voldemort did not take his gaze from her, as if giving her one last chance to give up and tell him what he wanted to hear. But, instead she flashed a little smile and he snarled, turning away and striding from the room, cursing her as he went. Greyback stepped up to her then, his wand held aloft, and Ginny knew that things were only going to go from bad to worse. She closed her eyes and braced herself, after all, what else could she do?

[ x x x ]

"This whole thing was a trap for Potter."

Draco spoke calmly to the Death Eater posted at the door of the Manor, his one hand on the shoulder of a blindfolded male, his other hand holding his wand to his temple. "I don't know..." The Death Eater shifter from foot to foot, knowing he would be the one in trouble for letting Draco back into the hideout, even with a prisoner in tow. "How do I know it's the real Potter, anyways?" Draco gave a sigh, one quite in character for himself, and he yanked the blindfold off the male, revealing to the other man the emerald eyes hid behind it.

"Tell him." Draco urged the male, prodding him a little harder with his wand. Harry stiffened and attempted to pull away, but Draco gripped his shoulder a little tighter and repeated himself. "Tell him."

"I am Harry Potter, you and I once dueled in the Ministry-" he stopped speaking when the Death Eater held up a hand, gesturing for them to stand aside. He turned his back to them and tapped the door and they all heard the click of the lock. The man opened the door and then turned back, gesturing for them to enter the Manor. Draco steered his prisoner through the door and quickly, undetected under the Invisibility Cloak, a trio of bodies snuck past the guard just before the door slammed close behind them. "Okay, I got you lot past the guard, now you just let me go and- oooww! Watch it, ya piss ant!" He snarled at Draco, who had pinched his upper arm when the man began to speak in a tone that was quite unlike Harry Potter. "I ain't gonna die in this place, no I ain't." He snapped as the Trio carefully pulled the cloak from their heads, revealing their faces.

This had been their plan; Mundungus Fletcher had owed Harry a debt and this was his way of repaying it back. They had given him a Polyjuice Potion containing one of Harry's hairs and used him as means of gaining entrance back into the Manor. It had taken them longer to track him down than any of them had wanted, but he was here now and they were going to rescue Ginny. "Your job isn't done yet,"Draco responded, giving the older man a quick shake. "Now shut up." He turned to the others then, glancing from face to face. "She's in the dungeon I'm sure, the same one you were held in. Can you find it on your own?" The real Harry nodded and exchanged a quick glance with his two comrades, both of whom were nodding as well. "This isn't going to buy us much time, they'll realize the truth quickly, if they even believe me at all." Another round of nods. Draco felt his stomach turning and his pulse racing at his wrists. "Alright, let's go then. Return to where I took you, I'll follow behind you once I can."

Harry paused a moment before he turned to go, reaching out to clasp Draco by the hand, emerald eyes meeting gray. "Be careful." His tone was somber but Draco smiled all the same and gave a nod.

"You too," he responded before he took Dung by the arm and steered him down a hallway off to the left, one Harry remembered taking the last time they were there. Harry and the others then took off down their own hall, the one that led down to the stairs that would take them down into the dungeons. Surprisingly, the halls were not patrolled by any Death Eaters, and it wasn't until they stepped off the last step into the hall of that held the various cells that they ran into anyone at all. Hermione was the first to react, knocking the man unconscious with a silent stunning spell. They went on then, racing down the final hall to the door that would lead them to Ginny.

"Alohomora!" Hermione once again and they heard the click of the door as it unlocked. Harry reached out and pushed the door open, and all three of them stepped over the threshold into her cell.

She lay on the floor against the west wall, face down and unmoving. For a long moment, none of them could move, none of them could make a sound, but then Ron was on the move, rushing forwards to drop down to his knees beside her. "Ginny..." He murmured to her softly and they could all hear her groaning as he reached out a hand to touch her. "Gin..." As Harry and Hermione approached, Harry could see the tears gathering in his friends blue eyes, and he felt a wave of apprehension rushing over him as he turned his own eyes onto Ginny. Ron had managed to roll her over and he cradled her head gently, leaning over her as he brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, giving them all a better view of her. Her pale, freckled cheeks were bruised and cut, one side of her face swollen as if she'd hit it hard on the ground. Her clothes were cut apart, as if cut with a blade, and they could see the cuts against her skin where the clothes were split. She was barely conscious, her head lulling back and forth as Ron held her up. "We need to get her out of here."

In another room upstairs, Draco found himself standing before his father and only his father. If Voldemort was here, he certainly did not want to see him. In all honesty, Draco was surprised at how easy it had been to coerce his father into seeing him- he had not expected him to walk through that door, and yet, there he was. "Father, I have brought you Harry Potter," Draco shoved Dung down to his knees and he could only hope that the threat against his life would keep him playing the part. "I have brought him for the Dark Lord." Draco bowed his head, hoping he looked the part of an honest and loyal son, all the while his mind spun with thoughts of Ginny. "I could not tell you the truth- I had to earn his trust, their trust, I had to make it believable to everyone." Lucius' face remained impassive as he listened to his son speak, his arms folded across his chest.

"And the others?" Lucius finally spoke, asking of the other two members of the trio, who Draco had not brought along with him.

"Escaped, ran when I got Potter." Draco confirmed with a nod. "Probably joined ranks with the Order or the Weasley's." He put a foot to the back of "Harry's" head and chuckled. "This one is stubborn, but I'm sure you can break him, Father." He lifted his gaze back to his father as he lowered his foot back to the ground, his tone as somber as his features. "I hope you didn't think I would actually betray you like that." For several long moments, there was nothing but silence, nothing but the crackle of a fire in the fire place behind his father. But then, Lucius held out a hand for his son to take, and the two shook hands, a moment passing between them that Draco had always hoped for in all his life. If only under different circumstances. The conversation turned to how Draco had captured Harry and how he'd come up with the plan and they spoke until Draco could not avoid asking any longer. "What has happened with the Weasley girl? Does she live still?"

At that, his father gave a bark of crude laughter, his gaze traveling to the fake Harry's face, the malice in his eyes gleaming. "She does, but I imagine she wishes she did not." Draco felt his stomach sink but he forced himself to give a short laugh, one that he hoped did not sound as fake as it felt. "The Dark Lord himself tortured her for hours but she never broke. And then he gave her over to Fenrir and you know what a monster he can be." Draco could not imagine which was worse for her- facing Voldemort himself or Greyback. He sent up a silent prayer to the universe that the others had recovered her from the dungeons and were on their way out of the Manor... He knew he would not have much time, if any at all, once they realized Ginny was gone. All he could do was wait for the sign from them. "The Dark Lord will be pleased with you for this, Draco," Lucius said after a moment, steering the conversation away from the girl in the dungeon. Now that Potter was in their clutches, she would surely die, and Potter would soon follow. "I am pleased with you. You came up with a brilliant plan that fooled us all and it has brought Potter into our grasp. You will go far, you will rise in the ranks and you will bring us honor." Draco squared his shoulders and held his head high, as if the praise was all he had ever wanted to hear. In truth, it was, just not praise for this. "The Dark Lord will be here shortly, he is at the Ministry . We will put him back in the dungeon until he arrives." Lucius knew he was not to disturb the Dark Lord when he went to the Ministry, not for anything, and he would rather see the look upon his face when he brought him Potter later that day. "You may take him there yourself."

Draco nodded and gripped the collar of Dung's shirt, yanking him back onto his feet before he pushed him from the door. In his pocket, he felt something growing warm and he knew it was the others, signaling that somehow they had made it out of the Manor with Ginny safe in their hands. That left only him. He steered Dung down the hallway and towards the flight of stairs, only to find a man face down at the bottom of them. "Oi! Ya' ain't gonna leave me here, are 'ya?" Dung spun around to face him and Draco swallowed, giving his head a shake. Draco knew Dung like the others did- he would do anything for anyone if it meant saving his own skin, Voldemort included, so he would be fine even if they did. He would work it out for himself, besides, Harry had already told him about what had happened years ago with him and he could see he wasn't entirely forgiven. Muttering something under his breath, Dung allowed Draco to lead him down the hall and into the cell, where he shut the door behind him and let out a single, shaky breath. Somehow, they had pulled this off.

Returning to the end of the hall, Draco leaned down over the unconscious man and tapped his head twice, uttering a spell Ginny had taught him a few months before. His eyes opened and though he looked a little lost, he sat up and got to his feet with a little help from Draco. "Sleeping on the job?" He asked the man who jumped and shook his head furiously. "You've got a new prisoner to look after," Draco jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards the cell at the end of the hall. "Harry Potter himself." The man's eyes widened and then a smug sort of smile fell into place. "Your new order is to remain at that door. Do not speak to the prisoner. Do not open the door for anyone but my father, understood?" Another nod. "Good. Now, get to it." The man rushed past him and Draco took to the steps, knowing his time was limited. Once Voldemort arrived and Dung's true identity was discovered he would never be able to escape. He had to go and he had to go now. As he climbed the stairs, he took one last look around the home he'd grown up in, but felt nothing at all. It was time to go.

Somehow, they had made it out.

Perhaps it was good timing, perhaps it was someone looking over them, whatever it was Harry and the others could not help but to take a moment to thank it. They returned to the place Draco had first brought them to, a safehouse he had said it was, a place he and Ginny had stayed previously on their journey. Ron had carried her into one of the bedrooms, depositing her onto the bed carefully and tenderly. For the next hour, they would trade off going to stand in the doorway of the room, peeking in at her, to see where she slept in the darkness. There was nothing they could do but wait.

One hour turned into two and they were beginning to worry for Draco who had yet to return from the Manor. "You don't think..." Hermione was the first to voice her worries, her hazel eyes full of concern as they looked between her two friends. "Surely he'll make it back..." Ron reached out and put a hand over hers, giving it a gentle squeeze as if to say everything was going to be okay. More time passed and while Hermione slept on the couch, Ron and Harry sat up talking, talking about everything and anything they could to pass the time. And then they saw it- the shadow of a figure passing by the window, the soft sound of footsteps out on the wrap around porch. Both of them were on their feet, wands out and up as the door knob turned and the door slowly opened...

"Malfoy!" They cried in unison at the sight of the blonde in the doorway, looking dazed but unhurt. Behind them, Hermione leapt up off the couch too, her eyes wide as she stumbled back into the waking world. "You scared the hell out of us, mate." Ron said with a laugh as he reached out a hand for him to shake. "Thank you," he then said, his expression turning somber as silence fell among them. Draco remained quiet but gave a little nod, taking Ron's hand. They all knew what Draco had risked going back into the Manor, he could have been killed on the spot, but he had done it anyways.

"How is she?" Draco asked then, peering over their shoulders to the bedroom door that was ajar just behind them. He could not imagine what it had been like to step into the cell to find her- he did not know what to expect. He knew that if Greyback had her... He shuddered to think about what she had gone through with the werewolf. But to have been tortured by Voldemort himself? It was hard to believe she was even still alive.

"She's asleep, I reckon but go in there if you want." Ron said, knowing how odd it was to be saying such a thing to Draco Malfoy. But, the man had proved himself to be loyal to his sister as well as to Harry and the Order by risking his life to save Ginny. And, if Ginny trusted him like she said she did, then so did he. Draco gave a silent nod and slipped past the three, hesistating at the doorway of the room before he went inside.

The room was dark so he turned on the bedside lamp, keeping it at its lowest output, casting her into a soft, golden glow. She was indeed fast asleep, her face turned towards him, giving him the ability to see every bruise, every cut against her pale skin. He could not help himself from reaching out a shaking hand to brush a crimson lock of hair from off her forehead, the pads of his fingers then trailing over the curve of her cheek. Gently, he pulled the blankets away from her, to see her destroyed clothing and the cuts beneath them, and he was certain if he took away the clothing she'd be covered in bruises too. He felt his stomach heave and his heart tightened, his face growing hot with a surge of anger. Carefully, he pulled the blankets back over her and shut off the light, casting the room back into full darkness. There, beside her bed, he vowed he would make them pay for what they had done to her. His father, Greyback, and even Voldemort himself. Backing out of the room, he left the door as it had been, and returned to the living room of the cottage, to find that Hermione had gone off to another room to sleep, while Harry and Ron were still yet awake, talking about their next moves.

"Is she still asleep?" Harry asked him as he approached, and Draco nodded, sitting down in the armchair just across the way, meeting eyes with the raven-haired male. "Good." He turned back to Ron then and went on speaking. "We were just trying to figure out what to do next." They still had Horcruxes to find and Harry felt that time was running out. He reached up a hand, idly touching his fingers to his scar as it prickled, giving him some indication that Voldemort had received news of some kind. "You and Ginny can't go back to the Burrow, it won't be safe for you or them." He looked back at Draco who though he looked somewhat surprised, gave another nod. "You could stay here until she's well enough to travel, but we can't wait around, we... We have things to do." Another nod.

"You know how Ginny is, though, she's never going to listen to us." Ron broke in, glancing at the door to the room where she slept. "She's going to want to be back out there the moment she wakes up." Now, that was something they certainly could all agree with. "And now that her cover is blown and you're on the run from the Death Eaters, you can't go back to what you were doing before." At the mention of that, Draco sat up a little straighter, suddenly reminded of the time many months ago that Ginny had put him under a disguise as well, to go into that coffee shop where Harry and the others had been. He kept it to himself and continued to listen to the others as they spoke, interjecting here and there, feeling for the first time as if he had always truly belonged with them.


	7. Chapter 7

The room was dark when she woke, so dark that she could not even see her own hand as she held it above her face. Her entire body was stiff, tight, painful... As if she'd been laying there in the same place for far too long. But where... Where was she? She blinked, sitting up despite her body's protests, and reached out to the lamp she could see on the bedside table. Flipping it on, she closed her eyes against the sudden bright light, blinking fast until her eyes began to adjust. Looking around the room, she took in her surroundings and realized where she was: the cottage she and Draco had been in months ago. The one she had Draco bring Harry and the others back to. Just like that, all of the memories came flooding back to her mind and she closed her eyes, hands reaching up to cover her face. She took several deep breaths before lowering her hands and pushed the blankets away from her legs. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood up, her knees shaking slightly beneath her weight; putting her hand onto the bedside table, she stabilized herself and then walked across the room, coming to stand before the mirror that hung on the eastern wall.

Her face was marred with bruises and cuts, her cheek swollen from where she had landed face down the first night with Voldemort. As she trailed her fingers across every wound, she recalled how she had received each of them, a shudder racing down her spine. Her clothing was destroyed, cut into pieces by a curse she could recall from her Hogwarts days, one that Harry had used against Draco one day years ago. Her limbs were covered in more cuts, more bruises, and she wondered if one or more of her ribs were broken, so painful was her left side. Ginny swore she would never forget the look in Voldemort's crimson eyes as he stared her down. She would never forget the feeling of Greyback's hands on her as he beat her, so irate was he that magic was no longer good enough. A shaky breath left her lips and she turned, seeking out a change of clothing. Finding a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt (both belonging to Hermione, she noted) she quickly changed, ignoring the pain it caused her as she raised her hands over her head.

Once she was changed, she left the room, heading out into the hallway where she stood, still and silent for several moments. The doors to the other rooms were all ajar, but dark within, telling her that they were all occupied by the others. A sense of relief washed over her and she moved on into the living area, where sure enough she found shoes (Ron's, she noted) on the floor and four cloaks draped over various pieces of furniture. That meant they were all there then, they were all safe. She moved further into the cottage, into the kitchen, and flipped on the light in there. From an overhanging cabinet she pulled Muggle tea bags and sugar, as well as a mug, and she set about making the tea. Between Hermione, Harry, and her father, she was well informed on the Muggle world technology, so making tea this way was not that complicated. As the microwave went around and around, she leaned against the counter, feeling tired and achey, yet wide awake at the same time.

Draco had heard her footsteps, he knew them so well after all, but he waited a few minutes until he heard the beeping in the kitchen telling him she had yet to return to her room. Rising from his bed, he shrugged his shirt back on and exited the bedroom, heading down the hall and into the living room. He could see her standing in the kitchen, her back to him, as she leaned against the counter, idly stirring the cup of steaming tea before her. Her red hair was falling across her shoulders and she looked pale and she looked tired. He walked across the living room floor and she turned to face him as he stepped over the threshold into the kitchen. "You're up," he said, tilting his head to the side, his gray eyes meeting her brown. "You should be in bed still."

She chuckled and lifted her shoulders in a shrug before taking a seat at the small kitchen table, her hands folding around the steaming mug of tea. "How long has it been?" She asked, turning those brown eyes to him, her stare intense enough to make his heart skip a beat. Draco felt emotion welling up inside of him then as he stared back at her, realizing how close he had come to losing her. He had never, not in all of his life, felt this strongly for anyone at all. Taking the seat beside her, he reached out a hand, taking hers into his grasp and squeezing it gently. She looked surprised but then her head tilted slightly and a smile fell into place. "I worried you, didn't I?" He gave a silent nod, still holding tightly to her hand, and she gave another little chuckle. "I'm sorry, you know I get a little carried away sometimes."

At that comment, it was his turn to laugh, and he nodded again. "When my father said You-Know-Who had given you to Greyback..." He watched as her eyes darkened and she frowned, but did not look away. "And no one... No one lives from a session with You-Know-Who himself, you know that right?" He let her pull her hand away then and she lifted her mug to sip from her tea, wincing as the hot liquid burned her tongue. "I was afraid I was going to lose you." He finally admitted, quietly, and he hung his head as his lids fell closed over his eyes. There was only silence until he heard her chair scraping the floor as it was pushed back and then, her weight was on his lap and he felt her head leaning against his shoulder. She was warm against him and he slipped his arms around her, gently as he could, and brushed a kiss against her temple.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," she whispered, her voice slightly muffled against his chest, and her hand slipped into his once again. He opened his eyes that were full of unshed tears and he propped his chin on the top of her head, feeling her wiggle a little bit closer to him. "I just needed for him and the others to be safe." Draco nodded, knowing what she said to be true. If they lost Harry, then they would lose the war. His life was more important than anyone else's. Silence lapsed and for a moment, Draco wondered if she had fallen asleep, but then her tired voice hit his ears. "It wasn't so bad." She was talking about the torture she had endured of course and Draco wondered if she was lying for his benefit, or perhaps even her own.

They remained like that until long after her tea had grown cold, until her breathing had softened and he realized she had indeed drifted off to sleep. Carefully, he put one arm under her knees and the other at her back, and he stood up, keeping her cradled against his chest. Her head lolled slightly and her lips were moving, murmuring something he could not quite hear. Carrying her out of the kitchen, he returned her to the room she'd been sleeping in, and deposited her gently onto the bed, pulling the covers up over her. Leaning over her, he brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead and gave her a kiss. "I love you," he murmured into her ear, saying the words that were tattooed across his heart. His heart was beating fast as he returned to his full height and flipped the light back off, casting the room into darkness once again. He turned to leave, crossing the room quietly, but found he was unable to yet leave so he remained in the doorway for several long moments, watching her sleep in the darkness.

And then, as he turned to go, he heard the softest of whispers, so quiet he thought he might be dreaming them. "I love you, too..."

[ x x x ]

Though they certainly did not want to, Harry and the others left a week later.

Ginny was on the mend, perhaps only a week or so longer before she was completely well again, and so they knew it was time to go. They still had things to do and Harry had a bad feeling that the war was going to take a turn for the worse.

He had woken from a dream earlier that week, one which left him ill feeling and full of anxiety. Voldemort had found out quite quickly that he and the Death Eaters had been duped by Draco and the others. Dung's identity had been found out within hours of his arrival there and Voldemort had been, needless to say, furious. And then it had been discovered that Ginny was gone as well and his anger had tripled. He had gone from having leverage over him and the Order, to thinking he had both her and him, to having absolutely nothing. Harry knew that Draco had moved to the top of the most wanted list that night and Voldemort would stop at nothing until he was dead.

And so, they had to go.

In order to protect them, both Ginny and Draco, as well as the rest of the world, they had to find the remaining horcruxes. Voldemort had to be stopped and that was the only way to do it.

But, before he left, Harry knew he needed a moment with her. So, early that morning of their departure, he asked if they could talk. With a smile, she had nodded and followed him from the cottage, down to the stream that flowed nearby. They walked in silence and when they approached the stream, she immediately sat down on the bank, the early spring sunshine reflecting off her red colored locks, making them shine as if they were spun with gold. "Promise you'll be careful," she said softly as he dropped down beside her, catching him off guard as he turned to look at her. When she looked up at him, her brown eyes were swimming with worry and he nodded. "I can't always come to your rescue, you know." He chuckled at her words and gave her another nod. "But, call on us if you need us. The final battle is approaching, isn't it?" She recalled the words she had overheard in the hall with Voldemort, when he had said to one of the hovering Death Eaters that the end was coming. That he would see the end of Harry before summer.

Harry gave a nod and felt the chill to his heart that he always felt when he thought of the final battle, the final days of war. It had been going on for so very long and he was growing tired. "We'll find you, when it's time." It was her turn to nod and for a little while they sat in silence, side by side, until he knew it was time to return to the little cottage. He stood and helped her to her feet, following behind her as they walked back, memorizing the way her hair swung back and forth with every step that she took. She turned to look at him over her shoulder and swore he would always remember how she looked in that instant, with the sun framing her face and her lips curving into a smile.

And then, they were gone.

[ x x x ]

The little cottage was quiet without the others.

Ginny and Draco fell quickly into their old routines of when they'd been together as Audrey and Draco, of talking and laughing and passing the time. Now that he knew the truth, they spoke of her family, she told him stories of her childhood and how it had been growing up with six older brothers. He talked about the expectations of his family, of the darkness he had always known surrounded them. She had touched his hand and smiled at him when his eyes had darkened and he had turned away.It had been then that she spoke of her days as a First Year, how she had written in Tom Riddle's diary and how she had opened the Chamber of Secrets. She had told him what it had felt like to truly no control over anything at all, about how it had felt to have him inside her head.

It was early one morning when Draco woke before her and instead of rising from bed like he normally would have, he propped himself up on an elbow to watch her sleep. She looked so peaceful laying there beside him, her red hair fanned out across the pillow like a crown. Her wounds had all healed, the bruising faded and the scrapes all gone. He could not help himself from reaching out, brushing his fingertips across the soft curve of her freckled cheek, knowing how easily he could have lost her. How she had not been killed while in Voldemort's grasp, he would never understand, but he'd always be thankful that she had. As he drew his hand back, her eyes fluttered and she was yawning, turning over to look up at him through a sleepy-eyed gaze. "Good morning," she said, her voice thick with sleep, her smile lopsided as she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry I woke you," he apologized and she gave a little laugh, shaking her head. Before he knew it, she had her arms around his neck, drawing him down to her level. Her lips found his in a quick kiss that left him breathless. He ran a hand down her side, coming to rest on her hip which he gave a quick squeeze. "Or maybe I'm not." He murmured into her ear, a soft chuckle following after.

"You're not," she whispered back as her teeth sank into the soft flesh of his neck, a groan her reward, one which sent shivers of delight down her spine. She trailed kisses down the curve of his neck, her hands wandering across his back

, fingertips tracing the length of his spine. "But neither am I." His hands were on both of her hips then and he was kissing her collarbone, her shoulders, further even until his mouth took hold of her bare breast. One hand still on her hip, the other one moved up, palm enclosing around her other breast, thumb rubbing circles against her nipple, all while his tongue did the other. She was moaning softly, her hands coming to entangle in his hair, his name on her lips as he moved further down. His lips were on her abdomen then, brushing the lightest of kisses against her skin. With a quick movement, he had her underwear pulled down and cast aside, his hand pushing her thighs apart. She gave a little cry as his fingers moved inside of her, the movements quick and wonderful. "Draco!" His name fell from her lips in a breathy little cry as he moved faster, his hand doing all the work while his lips found hers once more.

Her hands were moving then and Draco felt one wrap around the length of him, her grip strong and he gave a groan as she began to slide her hand up and down. He was kissing her again and she pushed him away, apparently unable to stand it any more, and pushed him down onto his back. Draco tipped his head back as she slid into place on him, her weight on his pelvis warm and pleasant. She began to rock back and forth on top of him, both of her hands on either side of his head on the headboard. Her movements were quick and he was groaning her name, the sound of her own little gasps making him enjoy it all the more. He let her go until he could take it no more and he grabbed her, turning them both all the way over so he was instead on top. He thrust into her while she writhed on the bed beneath him, gripping the sheets in her hands. She was crying out his name and a moment later he burst, leaving him to fall back into his place on the bed, drawing her naked frame close to his side. "Good morning," he said with a chuckle and she gave a laugh before untangling herself from both him and the sheets, saying something about a shower. He watched as she slipped from the room and sank back against the pillows, listening as the water began to run in the room next to him.

After a few moments, he rose up from the bed and began to pull on a clean set of clothing. Once dressed, he exited the bedroom and stopped outside of the bathroom, listening to the sound of the shower running, reminding him that she was in there, alive and well. By the time he'd reached the living area of the home, the water shut off and after a moment, the bathroom door opened and she was there in the hall, wrapped in a white towel, her red hair dripping down her back. "We should go." She said softly, her brown eyes somber in her face. Draco came to stand in front of her, tilting his head slightly as he listened to her speak. "Go and do something important. We can stil help. We can-" She was cut off as he grabbed her, kissing her fiercely, his arms winding around her soaking wet frame. "Draco-" she broke the kiss, smiling and a bit breathless, though her eyes were still yet dark and somber. "We can still help." She repeated, putting her hand onto his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"Then let's go help."

[ x x x ]


	8. Chapter 8

The wind was howling and the rain was pounding against the ground as thunder rumbled overhead. Lightning lit up the skies and the rain fell all the harder, though she had not thought it was possible. So dark was the night that even the moonlight could just barely shine through, casting everything into a hazy, eerie glow. Both she and Draco were soaked through their cloaks and clothes, leaving them shivering in the night, but unable to move from their places in the shadow. They could not risk even the slightest movement, lest they be discovered. Though irritating, the rain was helping to protect them from the person they were hiding from.

Fenrir Greyback, along with Antonin Dolohov, were trudging along in the rain as well, making their way down the cobblestone road of a small Muggle village. It was quite late, well past midnight the last time Ginny had been able to spare a glance at her watch, and she wondered if they'd soon come to a stop. She and Draco had been trailing the pair for several days now, gathering as much information from them as they could. Once they had been spotted, only but a day ago, but they had narrowly escaped by Apparition, thanks to her quick thinking. They had learned only a little bit- that Voldemort had killed the Muggle Prime Minister earlier that day, though the Muggle world believed it to be a train accident that took the man to an early grave. They had learned that Voldemort had returned the dementors to Hogwarts and the ghostly beings patrolled both Hogsmede and the school grounds. They had also learned that Greyback had been charged with finding them and bringing them back to Voldemort.

Since the night of her rescue from Malfoy Manor, the pair of them had quickly become two of Voldemort's most sought after enemies- Harry of course never leaving that top spot. But even the hunt for him was on hold, strange as it was, but Voldemort's whole focus seemed to be on stopping those that infuriated him the most. Ginny of course knew he'd never forget (nor forgive) her spitting in his face that night, for biting her lip rather than screaming while he tortured her, for overall just being everything he hated in a woman. And of course Draco, who had lied to him, who had defied him and stood against him, was now deemed nothing more than a nuisance that needed to be stopped.

Ginny raised her eyes to the sky as lightning flashed again, lighting up the entire street before them. Greyback and Dolohov had come to a stop in front of a building, an inn the sign above read, and they seemed to be discussing something. Carefully, Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out an Extendable Ear, sliding the end out as far as she dared around the corner of the building they crouched behind. Bowing his head close to hers, they listened in, catching the last half of something Dolohov was saying. "... Stay here the night, then?" Greyback grunted and finally nodded, gesturing for Dolohov to enter the building. Waiting a safe ten minutes, she and Draco then darted for the door themselves, seeing just in time the staircase door across the room closing behind the two Death Eaters.

Approaching the Muggle at the desk, Ginny's eyes swept him over; he held the unmistakable signs of a man who had been Confunded. "We're here for our room key you forgot to give us," she said immediately to the man, knowing that though it was wrong to take advantage, this was the perfect chance to rest and perhaps get some information. "Our father and uncle just paid for the room. The room next to theirs, of course" She gestured towards the stairs, hoping the dazed Muggle would recall the room number of the room he had just given to the men before them.

"Ah yes, such a lovely conversation we had, your father and I," the Muggle said as he stumbled about, pulling out various drawers until he found what he was looking for. "Here you go," he passed a key into her hands and Ginny backed away from the desk, heading towards the doorway across the room. She turned to spare the man one backwards glance, feeling somewhat guilty for using him as they were, but she supposed they needed a night to rest as much as anyone else. Besides, Greyback and Dolohov would be right next door, there was still the possibility of learning something new.

Taking to the stairs, they got off at the fourth floor landing and headed down the hall, carefully treading across the stretch of floor before the Death Eater's door. Ginny paused for a long moment outside their own door, heavily debating on trying out an Extendable Ear, but she was positive the two men would have cast any and all protective charms they could, being in a Muggle inn like they were. Sighing, she pushed open their own door and led Draco inside, who immediately locked the door behind them and set about putting up their own protective charms.

The room was decent sized, with one large bed pushed against the back wall, a television and a desk on the wall across from it. The window was wide and covered with plush looking curtains and the sound of rain hitting the glass told them it still yet rained outside. "Well, I think we're safe," Draco said softly as he came to stand beside her in the center of the room, though his eyes were dark with worry. She knew he didn't like beind right next to Greyback and Dolohov, not that she could blame him. Turning on the bedside lamp, Ginny turned to face him, all the while catching a glimpse of her reflection the mirror on the wall. It was not her own face that looked back at her, it was not even Audrey Harper's, it was a whole new one entirely. Every single day they cast a disguise charm, changing the small details about themselves- Weasley red hair, and even Malfoy's blonde, were two traits far too well known to go around supporting. Especially while tailing high ranking Death Eaters. Today her hair was the same shade as Draco's usually was although her eyes were a deep green. Draco was dark haired with dark eyes. "We should rest."

Now, that she could not argue with.

Stripping from their soaking wet clothes, the pair dove beneath the sheets on the bed, scrambling to hold one another. Draco held fast to her as he felt her shiver, drawing the blankets a little bit closer to them both. For what felt like hours, they lay in silence, holding onto one another for both warmth and comfort, until they both had drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

[ x x x ]

"Listen," she pressed a finger to her lip and gestured for him to join her at the wall, which she'd had her ear pressed to for the last half hour while Draco showered. Ginny was clutching her wand and Draco knew she had cast some sort of spell to counteract the silencing charm surely placed on the room beside their own. He joined her, still damp and smelling of soap, and pressed his ear to the wall as well. At once he could hear the muffled voices from behind it, voices he knew belonged to Greyback and Dolohov.

"... Can't have gone too far, could they?" Dolohov was saying and there came a pause, Greyback's low rumble too quiet for them to make out. "No, but I can't wait to get my hands on them." Laughter followed and Ginny imagined that both men were talking about her and Draco, considering that was their current job from Voldemort. "The Dark Lord wants them alive, though, unfortunate wouldn't you say?"

"He don't care much about the boy, but I suppose Lucius wouldn't mind dealing with his son himself," Greyback's voice was louder, closer by, telling them that he'd moved closer to where they stood with their ears to the wall. "I just hope the Dark Lord let's me have a piece of that Weasley girl before he does away with her." A malicious, animal like laughter escaped the werewolf and Ginny felt chills race down her spine at the thought of that monster getting his hands on her. Draco must have felt the same because his hand was suddenly groping for her own, and he gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "Let's go, I can't stand another bloody second in here, filthy Mudbloods everywhere." Greyback sneered and they listened as the two men opened the door to their room and their footsteps sounded down the hall, moving further and further away until there was nothing left but silence.

"Did you hear anything else?" Draco asked then, turning to her as she stepped back, sitting down on the edge of the bed, one hand tugging at a string on the bedspread. She sighed and shook her head, falling backwards then, her red hair spread out beneath her like a halo. "Do you think they're really going to go to Hogwarts?" He sat down beside her, recalling a conversation they had overheard a few days before. While Severus Snape may have been Headmaster at Hogwarts, they knew he was gone a lot, doing this and that for Voldemort, which left the brainless Alecto and Amycus Carrow in charge. Greyback and Dolohov routinely checked into the school, just to keep tabs on things, as well as to search Hogsmede for any sign of any of them.

"Hard to say." Ginny replied with a sigh, sitting back up, her brown eyes seeking out Draco's gray. "It might be worth checking out, though." The idea of seeing Hogwarts again elated her and they could gain some vital information if they did things right.

"Yeah, but how do we get in?" Draco asked and at once Ginny's face broke out into a wide grin, her brown eyes twinkling.

"Leave that to me."

[ x x x ]

Hours later, Ginny and Draco (both newly disguised) were creeping down a long, dark tunnel, one which led them from Honeyduke's in Hogsmede right into Hogwarts Castle. "I can't believe I never knew this existed," Draco whispered as he followed close behind her, both of their wands lit and held high, casting beams of light yards ahead of them. "I thought the secret passages were just myths." He should have known that of all people, Ginny would have known of their existence, whether from her troublemaking brothers or her own curiousity.

"Most of them are blocked off by now- but this one was so rarely used... I think most people forgot about it existing." She explained, casting him a glance over her shoulder. "Fred and George used to sneak down to Hogsmede through this one all the time." She pointedly left out her own trists to this place- one having been with Harry and Honeydukes had not been their destination that day. "Old man Honeyduke cursed kids that he caught sneaking into his shop so most peopled were too afraid to risk it." They were coming upon the end of the tunnel then and Ginny pressed a finger to her lips, feeling her heart begin to pick up its pace within her chest. What they were doing... What they were risking... It could cost them their lives, as well as innocent lives inside the school should a fight break out. They had to be careful.

Coming upon the backside of the statue that blocked the tunnel entrance, Ginny extinguished her wand and Draco followed suit, casting them both into total darkness. "Here," she fumbled in the dark, handing him a set of robes, and pulled on a set of her own, so they could blend in a bit easier. "Ready?" She asked into the darkness and when Draco had given his assent, she raised her wand and tapped the statue three times. At once it sprung aside, allowing them to slip by and into the corridor of the school. When they were safely inside the hall, she tapped the statue three more times and it moved back into its place, almost as if it had never even moved in the first place. "Let's go," she gestured for him to follow her and they began to make their way down the still familiar corridors of the school. 

"It's about time for dinner," Draco noted as they passed by a rather large grandfather clock, with magnificent hands carved out of oak. "They'll be in the halls in a minute or so," she nodded a silent response and they took to a flight of stairs just as the first set of students flooded the hall. In an instant, they were among them, hardly being noticed as they looked like any of them. They were, in that moment, mere students of the school. But as everyone else made their way down the stairs and towards the Great Hall, she and Draco climbed several flights of stairs and took to an empty corridor to what they knew was the Headmaster's office. Their first task, they decided, was to see if there was anything at all helpful to them or their cause within those four walls. Then, they would move on and see if there was anything else useful to them within that castle, including speaking to a few of the students.

"Amortentia," Ginny said the moment they stood before the statue that stood between them and Snape's office- Draco stared at her in awe, wondering how she had known the password with such ease. Grinning at his surprise, she laughed and pushed past the statue, coming into the room with Draco on her heels. "It was the first one that sprung to my mind, honestly. Just a lucky guess."

They stood in the center of the room for several moments, taking in the sights of the room, neither having been in it in a long time. The time that had passed since their school days seemed uncountable. Across the room, behind the rounded desk were the many portraits of the old headmasters and headmistresses of the castle, some of which slept, others were empty... But one, one in particular was staring down at them with a bemused sort of smile on his face.

Albus Dumbldedore had not seen students such as these enter this room in many, many months. In truth, no student had entered this office since the year before, and had instead become a room for meetings between Severus Snape and other Death Eaters who came on business. Seeing students there was almost odd. "Good evening," he called out to them with a warm smile, his blue eyes twinkling from behind his half-moon spectacles. "Strange to see students in here again, especially at this time of night. Should you not be eating dinner?"

Ginny smiled up at the portrait, feeling the familiar tug of heartache as her eyes met the former headmaster's. He was looking at her then, his smile torn between amusement and bewilderment. It was almost as if he could see right through her disguise and into the truth of her heart. "We're here for something." She said softly, tilting her head slightly, her cascade of brown hair tumbling over a shoulder. "We won't be long," she added, glancing quickly at the sleeping portrait of Phineus Black, who would surely tell Snape or one of the others that students had been snooping in the office.

"Ahh, yes..." Dumbledore's smile returned and he sat back in his portrait, closing his eyes and feigning sleep himself. "Perhaps one might look in the desk," he said off-handedly, opening one bright blue eye and staring right at Ginny, who gave a nod and at once moved forward towards the desk. Draco followed her, but swept past the desk and immediately went to the cupboard behind it, which had once housed Dumbledore's Pensieve, but now merely seemed to house all of Snape's old dark trinkets and books.

Dropping into the chair behind the desk, Ginny's first step was to look over the various papers scattered across the top of it. Nothing much, she noted as she rifled through them, careful to keep them in the same order and same placement that she found them. Finding nothing of interest, she instead turned to the drawers on the side of the desk. The topmost one was locked and with a quick spell, she had it open, and found it to hold nothing but a broken ring. Blinking, she lifted it out of the drawer, carefully inspecting it; a gasp left her lips, startling Draco who jumped behind her as she turned around, wide eyes staring up at Dumbledore's portrait. The ring, she realized, was the one that the old headmaster had been wearing the year of his death. "Is that...?" Draco asked, vaguely remembering the ring himself, though he sincerely wished to forget that time of his life. Ginny nodded and turned back, placing the ring back into the drawer and locking it back. She moved onto the next drawer and found it to was locked, this one requiring more than the simple Alohomora to open it.

Inside this drawer was something so much stranger than anything she ever could have expected. Reaching inside, she firstly drew out a photograph; it was a Muggle one, she noticed that first, for the person was stationary. It was of a young woman with waist length, dark red hair, who was smiling at something off screen, her bright green eyes quite familiar to her. It was then that Ginny realized this was a photo of Harry's mother, Lily. Her heart pounding all the harder, Ginny returned her hand to the drawer, this time drawing from it a faded piece of parchment, one with unfamiliar handwriting sprawled across the page. Behind her, Draco peered over her shoulder, both of them reading the loopy sort of handwriting that flowed down the page.

 _Severus,_

 _It's been years and I guess that's my fault- I never wanted us to drift apart like we have. But we... You and I... We see things so much differently. Too differently to pretend like there's nothing wrong. I had always hoped that you would be different, that you would grow out of those friends and those dark tendancies. I guess I was wrong._

 _I want you to know, I don't regret our friendship. You helped me understand what it was to be a witch and that I wasn't, like I used to think, a freak. I only wish I could have helped you to see that there's more to life than darkness and despair. I hope you see that someday._

 _I can't even really say what's possessed me to write this to you, so many years since we last spoke. It's been what... four years now? I can remember a time where we didn't even go a day without talking. I suppose I'm feeling sentimental these days, blame the pregnancy. I guess you don't know that though, do you? James and I are expecting a baby, they'll be here at the end of July. I wish things were different Sev, I really do. I wish that you were still my best friend and that we still talked. I wish you were here to experience these really amazing things in my life._

 _I guess all I can say now is, I hope you find true happiness. Really Sev, if nothing else, all I want for you is happiness, whatever that is._

 _All my love,_

 _Lily._

By the end of the letter, Ginny could not help but to blink against the tears gathering in her eyes. The letter was, even though it did not explicitly say it, was downright sad. These were the words written by a woman who clearly cared for Severus Snape, for some strange reason. These were words written from one friend to another. Ginny wiped her eyes and returned both the letter and the photo to the drawer, knowing their time was up. They were risking too much being there and they needed to go. Rising up from the chair, she closed and locked the drawer back, and when she cast a single look back to Dumbledore's portrait, she found he was staring right back at her.

"We should go..." Draco said softly, drawing her back to reality, and she gave a small nod, allowing him to take her by the hand. "Before someone catches us." He too cast one last look at their old Headmaster, who was smiling sown at them, his smile somewhat knowing, and Draco had to wonder if he could see right through their disguises. But then he turned away, drawing Ginny with him, back down the staircase and into the hall. In silence they walked down the corridors, carefully avoiding Mrs. Norris and Filch, both of whom were roaming the halls looking for students out of place.

It wasn't until they had crawled out from the tunnel and into the cellar of Honeyduke's that either of them spoke again, Draco being the one to break the silence first. "I never knew... Did you...?" He turned to her, offering a hand to help her up from the tunnel and onto the solid floor of the cellar. They stood among the dozens of boxes of sweets, their only source of light emanating from the tips of their wands. He wondered if Harry knew of his mother's friendship with Snape and if he did, surely that meant Ginny and his other close friends knew as well. But... From the look upon her face, it didn't seem that Ginny had known. There was no other reason she could look so sad.

"No, I didn't know," she said honestly, a darkness clutching at her soul as she recalled the words Lily Potter had written in that letter. It was odd, thinking that she of all people had been friends with Severus Snape. But even more odd was the fact that Snape had kept it all these years, as well as that old Muggle photo of her. "Let's find somewhere to stay, just for the night." She said then, pushing past him, her mind a whirlwind. Reading that letter had left her feeling strange. She wondered if Harry knew about his mother and Snape. She wondered why Snape still yet kept the letter and why it had been faded, not just with age, but with handling. As if he'd read it over and over again.

As if it had meant something to him.


End file.
